Splintered Vision
by TheDarkTulip
Summary: Ordinary teenager Catherine stumbles upon an injured Bunnymund and has to keep him hidden whilst he recovers, it doesn't help that shadows keep attacking her and some white haired kid is stalking her. But hey! Catherine always did like a challenge.
1. Chapter 1

Fall was always a bad time of year, Catherine thought. Nothing bad happened in fall, but the cold was starting to creep in and kill the beauty of spring and summer that Catherine did so love.

Although, it was most definitely the cold that bugged her the most. Catherine despised the cold, hated the layers she had to wear to keep it away.

"I. Hate. The. Cold." Catherine bit out as she tugged at her coat, it wouldn't be so bad, if the chill wind didn't keep trying to steal her scarf.

"Why do you do this to me mum?" She demanded, bracing herself against another October wind as it brushed through her clothes.

Catherine mumbled to herself, tugging the shopping bag in her hand and wrapping it once around her wrist to prevent it banging into her leg. The beans inside would be nothing but mulch by the time she got home but right now that was unimportant. Getting home and treating herself to a nice cup of tea was important.

Oh, how Catherine loved tea.

It was a common British stereotype, that all Brits drank afternoon tea and ate cucumber sandwiches with the crusts cut off. It was completely and utter crap. True enough Catherine enjoyed tea, as did her mum and dad but in not in as much excess as the rest of the world would believe.

"Why did it have to be beans? Couldn't she have just made them the damn hot dogs?" Catherine cursed, her younger siblings didn't want hot dogs tonight it would seem.

Bloody children.

Catherine shivered as she passed into the forest, but something caught her attention. It glinted in the light, but only just barely as it lay on the autumn leaves. Had Catherine not had great attention to detail she would have missed it entirely, as it blended into the leaves.

"A boomerang?" She asked incredulous, before creeping over to it and picking it up delicately.

It was carved into ornate wood, with a few polished stones embedded into the wood. The engravings were beautiful, and Catherine wondered who would drop such a treasure.

"Gorgeous." She breathed, turning it over in her fingers.

"That's strange," she muttered, tracing her fingers along a splintered piece of wood "it's broken. Who'd mistreat something this beautiful?"

Catherine's head snapped up, her attention being drawn away from the boomerang in her hand. A sound, from in the forest.

Now, the forest wasn't exactly big, but not many people actually went in there. The little town she lived in was full of history, myths and ghost stories that the townspeople believed in far too much.

People that died in the forest, people that went in but never returned. Stories and tales that had merit, and that Catherine had belief in.

Catherine believed in a lot of things.

"Hello?" She called carefully, taking a tentative step towards the forest.

There it was again, that noise, almost like someone was…moaning? It was a frightening sound, one you read about in horror stories when the pour victim foolishly mistook it for a person in pain.

But…it could have been, a person in pain.

The next sound wasn't a moan, it was an agonising scream of pain, and Catherine dropped her bag and shot into the forest.

Catherine might not have been the strongest individual, but years of martial arts training had taught her how to protect herself and someone else if she really had to.

The leaves crunched under her feet and the twigs scratched at her skin, leaving white marks across her already pale flesh as she ran towards the horrible gut wrenching sound.

Catherine stumbled into a clearing and skidded to a stop, red faced and panting. There were two figures, one standing over another menacingly.

"Foolish rabbit, you honestly thought you'd be able to stop me?" The standing figure asked, a stocky person hidden almost completely by the shadows.

Catherine bent down slowly, grabbing a thick branch before she crept forwards.

"I will destroy them all, every guardian. They don't even realise your gone." The standing figure, definitely a woman, taunted and Catherine ignored the way her gut twisted as she approached.

Nerves, she was used to nerves, she was a performer. She'd been on stage, she'd been in martial arts competitions, nerves she could handle. The figure laying on the floor was mostly obscured from her view as she crept behind the stocky woman, bringing her makeshift club back behind her head.

"You'll die, screaming in agony." The woman squealed in delight and Catherine snarled.

"Not today bitch." She growled, swinging her makeshift club and hearing it crack against the woman's skull.

The woman screeched, but before she hit the ground her body exploded into a complete mass of dark creatures and Catherine screamed as they lashed out at her. She swung the broken end of her club until they vanished, she panted and dropped it to the ground.

"People don't do that. People shouldn't do that." She breathed to herself in shock, before shaking her head to clear it.

"Are you alright?" She asked, turning her attention the figure on the floor.

He moaned, for it had to be a he, and she frowned down at him. It was dark, and she was just about able to make out his huge shape.

"Jeez, you certainly ate your vegetables growing up." She muttered to herself, kneeling on the ground to better assess the damage.

"You…shouldn't be here…" He groaned on the floor and Catherine hushed him gently.

"Easy, I'll call an ambulance, and the police." Catherine told him, before cursing herself.

She never took her phone to the shop, it was only ten minutes walk away why the hell would she?!

"We need to get you up, somewhere warm." Catherine muttered to herself, and the figure murmured something incoherent as Catherine moved forwards to help him up.

It was only when the wind blew, and the branches obscuring the light of the moon were moved that Catherine could actually see the figure.

Her first instinct was to leap back, and her second to scream. But she remained frozen, staring at the…the thing…laying moaning on the floor.

"I just saved the life of a government experiment." She whispered, and the creature snickered, wincing at the movement.

"Damn, whatever she did, it must have hurt you bad." Catherine murmured, tentatively reaching down and hooking her arms under what she presumed was it's arms.

"Come on, I'll take you to my place. Patch you up, everything'll be fine." Catherine assured, grunting under the weight of the creature, but still just about managing to get it onto its feet.

"This'll be fun to explain to mum."

**First rise of the guardians fic so please be kind. Yes it will be BunnymundxOC sorry if you don't like that but I do. It was not Pitch. It was another unnamed spirit that I will make more known later.**

**Read and Review guys!**

**Tulip Out.**


	2. Chapter 2

Catherine was utterly astounded at the observational skills of her family, stick the TV on and a truck could smash through the house without anybody noticing. This was exactly the reason Catherine managed to get the large creature up the stairs and into the spare bedroom without anybody noticing.

She'd dumped the contents of her shopping bag on the kitchen floor and practically dragged it up the stairs as fast as she was humanly capable.

"You. Weigh. A. Tonne." She grunted as she finally got him onto the bed in the spare room.

The creature mumbled something, hissing in pain as something jarred when he flopped onto the surface of the bed.

"Sorry." Catherine muttered sympathetically, laying the creature on it's back to try and figure out what it was.

It was covered entirely in fur, but it was huge, at least six feet tall and judging by it's weight there had to be a considerable amount of muscle on it. Catherine wasn't weak by any means, despite her appearance.

"Okaaaay…I'm drawing a blank here." She muttered to herself, reaching back to shut the door behind her.

She clicked the lock shut to keep the rest of her family out, she knew they wouldn't question it. Catherine spent most of her time in the spare room, because she shared a room with two of her younger siblings it was nice for her to be able to escape.

And her mum wouldn't give her the big room, it was for her grandparents if they ever decided to visit.

"Bunny."

Catherine frowned.

"What?"

The creature murmured it again, and Catherine frowned down at it.

"You're…you're a rabbit?" She asked slowly, and the creature murmured it's agreement.

"Okay I know nothing on the physiology of a mutant rabbit so I'm just going to go on what I know about people okay?" She murmured, darting out of the room and slipping into the backroom to grab the medical kit before shooting back up the stairs.

"Do you want dinner?" Her mum called.

"No!" She bellowed back down, making sure to lock the door behind her as she went over to the…rabbit…that hadn't moved.

"Please don't be dead, that would be gross." She pleaded, but the steady rise and fall of the rabbits chest alerted her to it's life.

"Okay, I've patched up people before, let's see what we've got." Catherine murmured to herself, mainly to assure herself that she wasn't in over her head.

The rabbit grunted, and Catherine peered over at it from where she was stood, placing the medical kit on the table and popping it open.

"Sorry, I didn't quite catch that." Catherine told it apologetically and it repeated itself slightly louder.

"Abdomen."

Catherine nodded, even though it probably couldn't see given it's eyes were clamped shut. She hovered over it for only a moment, before reaching down to try and find whatever abdominal injury it had obtained.

The fur was annoying, and Catherine thought back to all those veterinary programs her friend Janie had made her watch and they almost always shaved off a patch of fur to make it easier.

Her hands touched a damp patch of fur, and she pressed down on it gently. The rabbit whined, and Catherine looked up to see it's teeth clamped shut.

"I need to get this fur out of the way, sorry but it's got to go." She apologised, pulling open the drawer and pulling out the electric razor.

The room was kept locked, any sharp or dangerous objects the children might get hold of were kept in there and Catherine was thankful for that.

The rabbit grunted but made no move to stop her.

"Please don't let them hear, dear god please." Catherine begged as she switched the razor on and it buzzed through the rabbit-creatures fur.

Once she had gotten rid of enough fur to actually _see _the injury she realised that it wasn't actually that bad. It was a slash mark, it looked like something a dog might do but it hadn't gone very deep.

But…the rabbit seemed to be in such pain, and that's when Catherine noticed it.

"I don't even want to know what that is…" She murmured, prodding at the embedded object gently.

The rabbit creature hissed, clawing at the sheets on the bed in absolute agony. The object looked to be made of wood, but Catherine had never seen wood like this before. It was almost as if it were made entirely out of darkness, there were grooves in it but when Catherine ran her fingers over it, it was completely smooth to the touch.

"I need to pull it out." Catherine informed it, and she saw it nodding gently, teeth clenched.

"Do you want something to bite on?"

The rabbit snorted through it's nose and Catherine guessed that was a no. She sighed, wrapping her hand around the smooth object and clenching her own teeth. Even touching the object, seemed to hurt the rabbit creature.

"I'm sorry, but I need you not to scream." Catherine breathed, she wasn't sure the rabbit had heard her but she needed to do this and quick.

Catherine hesitated, could she do this? She'd seen injuries before, broken bones, bloody noses, smashed heads that sort of thing. But she'd never had to take care of them alone, she'd always been able to call and ambulance and no one had managed to impale themselves (yet)

This was…somewhat over her head.

The rabbit seemed to sense her hesitation, forcing one forest green eye open to stare at her. It was panting, it was in _pain._ Catherine couldn't hesitate right now because she knew she had to get this out, clean the wound and bandage it.

"Oh I am so in over my head." She breathed, gripping the object with both hands and wrenching it out as fast as she could.

The rabbit didn't scream, but Catherine could practically hear it's teeth grinding together and it definitely moaned in pain.

Catherine wanted to say something, apologise, reassure the rabbit but if she said anything she new she'd break. So instead she moved to disinfect the wound, she didn't even warn the rabbit because she knew it'd hurt.

The rabbits breath was less laboured now, and she was careful as she wrapped the wound.

Her hands were shaking, but she was finished. The wound was clean, the object had been tossed onto the floor and she had wrapped it.

Her hands were shaking.

The rabbit moved, a large paw came up and covered both of her hands and pulled them down onto the mattress. Catherine took in a very deep breath, pressing her eyes shut and letting her breath out carefully.

"I am going to lay down." Catherine muttered and the rabbit pulled it's paw away.

"Please don't die whilst I am having a panic attack." She muttered over her shoulder, leaving the spare room and clicking the lock behind her.

"I am going to need therapy, so much therapy."

**So here it is! Chapter two! Hope everybody is enjoying the story so far!**

**Ashthetyto, I sure hope so! Thanks for being reviewer number one!**

**Lady Minuialwen, Glad you think so!**

**Read and Review guys!**

**Tulip Out.**


	3. Chapter 3

Catherine slept for the rest of the night, late into the next day and missed her lunch. That bugged her, Catherine liked lunch. She liked breakfast too and she'd missed that as well.

Catherine was lucky that today was Saturday, she was especially lucky (and thankful) that her mum had promised to take the girls to the zoo today.

Catherine had declined the offer, she had coursework to do. Not that she'd be doing it on accounts of THE GIANT RABBIT IN THE SPARE BEDROOM.

Catherine leapt from her bed, skidding to a halt outside the spare room and staring at the door. Did she knock? Would the rabbit still even be there?

Catherine didn't knock, instead clicking the lock and pushing it open slowly. Part of her was hoping, pleading that it had all been a crazy dream and that today was Friday not Saturday so that she could do it again and buy beans on the way home from school.

"Hello?" She whispered, peering in, barely poking her head through the door.

There was the rabbit, chest rising and falling rhythmically as it slept. Catherine took a few very tentative steps into the room, not really wanting to wake the sleeping creature as she just sort of…stared, at it.

She crept to the table under the window, opening the laptop sat on the top and switching it on. She needed google, google would know _something _about this…thing.

Once the computer was logged on, she immediately googled anthropomorphic rabbits.

Although google certainly had plenty of results, the first thing she stumbled upon was something called 'lapism'.

"Genetically modified…small religion…" She murmured to herself as she read and sighed at the next piece. "Base on stories by Phil Geusz. Not helping."

She must have scanned five pages, but nothing helped her in the slightest. She cursed, but then flinched when there was movement from the bed.

The rabbit moaned, curled onto it's side but didn't wake. Catherine frowned, and thought to anybody that would be able to help her with this particular conundrum.

Her face lit up as a single name came to mind, her cousin Jamie Bennett, he'd know _something _about this. The kid had gone wild about a year ago, talking about Jack Frost and Santa Claus and how they'd saved all the children in the world blah blah.

_Hey Jamie!_

_It's Catherine, I need your help on something, but you need to swear not to tell anybody about this. And I mean EVER, you got that pipsqueak?_

Catherine sighed, she knew Jamie wouldn't tell anybody but she still had to say it. Mainly to reassure herself about this whole thing. Her cousin lived in Pennsylvania somewhere, in a town beginning with B and Catherine only got to see him and his sister Sophie once a year at the big Christmas get together.

Which would be in about two months, if that.

_You remember last year you started prattling on about Jack Frost and the Bogeyman? Well, something weird's happened over her._

It took Catherine a good ten minutes to come up with the right words to finish the email.

_I found a six foot tall anthropomorphic rabbit. I'm keeping it in the spare room. Help?_

_Cath x_

It took another five minutes for her to bring up the courage to actually press the send button, and when she did she felt like she'd just sent off a letter to the queen declaring her homes independence from England.

She was a nervous wreck.

Jamie wouldn't reply for several hours due to the time zones, so Catherine was left with the never-ending conundrum that was peering over at her from the bed.

It took Catherine a moment to register this, the rabbits forest green eyes were staring at her from the bed with curiosity and…worry?

"Uh…" Catherine murmured, sucking in a breath, trying to formulate a sentence but the words wouldn't work.

She deflated, burying her head in her hands.

"I am in way over my head."

The rabbit grunted, pulling itself up into a sitting position and Catherine pulled herself away from the table.

"Hey you shouldn't get up!" She said, coming over to the side of the bed to help the rabbit up the best she could, propping up pillows behind it.

She sighed, standing straight and assessing her situation with as much sanity as she could muster at this present point in time.

"I'm gonna change your dressings." She finally decided, reaching for the medical kit as the rabbit watched her.

It was really, really unnerving. But she ignored it, Catherine was very good at ignoring people when they stared at her, she'd had a lot of practise. She reached forwards to take off the bandages and paused.

Should she be doing this? What if the rabbit was the bad guy? What if it reached up and ate her or something?

Logic told her that rabbits were herbivores but that really didn't stop her worrying. Catherine steeled herself, reaching forwards to begin undressing the wound as gently as she could.

"I don't bite."

She jumped, almost dropping the bandages as she did so, before staring at the rabbit.

"Well how was I supposed to know?" She snapped, leaning forwards to look at the wound.

Catherine had seen infections, in school, at her dojo and on television. This was like nothing she'd ever seen before, little black cobweb designs were spreading from the initial injury and at a rate where Catherine could see them inching through the rabbits flesh.

"That…I don't think I have anything for that." Catherine mumbled, reaching for the medical kit and looking at the different disinfectants inside.

She'd disinfected it before she'd wrapped it, how could infection have set in this fast?

"I don't suppose you have some magic ointment hiding somewhere do you?" She asked under her breath, and the rabbit grunted.

"If you have my bag, then yeah." The rabbit told her, and Catherine frowned.

"I wasn't actually expecting a response," She huffed "but you didn't have a bag when I found you."

The rabbit sighed, but it turned into a hiss when Catherine moved her hands lightly across the injury.

"Sorry!"

Again the rabbit grunted, a barely audible sound that made Catherine shiver.

Catherine frowned, looking down at the floor for a moment before reaching to the bedside table.

"I did find this at the edge of the forest." She told him, holding out the damaged boomerang.

The rabbit lit up, reaching out slowly and taking the boomerang from her. Catherine took a tentative step away, staring at the other object on the bedside table. The black object that she had pulled from the rabbit was laying there like a venomous snake, ready to strike out at Catherine.

It made her anxious.

"Listen, I'm going to go look around the forest for your bag." She muttered, pulling herself up and leaving, locking the door behind her.

Catherine wasn't sure what the rabbit said as she walked out, but she really didn't need his sass right now.

**Holy banana cheese puffs! Twelve reviewers for one chapter?! Wow…I just…wow. Did not expect that much of a response so THANK YOU ALL SO VERY MUCH!**

**The beginning is a bit slow, but I promise it'll pick up! Swear it!**

**Blackshadow, No! Not the puppy dog eyes! AAAAAHHH! Glad your enjoying it so much!**

**Lady Minuialwen, Personally? I'm much more worried about Catherine. Poor, poor girl, and you just wait and see what I have in store of her. Mwahahaha!**

**Bookgal7, I'm glad you've decided to follow it! I hope you continue to enjoy it!**

**Foxchick1, Glad your enjoying the story!**

**Lady of the wilds, Great!**

**Randomobesssion123, Update.**

**RedPenWriter13, I'm glad you like Catherine, I've tried to make her as real as possible and not Mary-Sue so I'm glad you like her!**

**AwesomeJellyBean, Ah, that will be explained! Soon! I promise! Cool name by the way.**

**Invisibleamericanburgers, So many interesting pennames! But I may now be deaf…**

**WarWolf216, Really? I'm glad mine was the first OC story you read! And I'm elated that you like it!**

**Guest, Damn, I always get it muddle up, thanks for the correction!**

**Ashthetyto, I made your day? Wow! I hope I can keep this up!**

**Read and Review guys!**

**Tulip Out.**


	4. Chapter 4

The forest leaves crunched under her feet as she walked, crept through the forest to try and find the bag so that the rabbit could be on it's way. It took her a moment to recall exactly where she had stumbled upon the rabbit but she did in the end.

"Why does this stuff always happen to me?" She murmured, kicking aside leaves as she searched.

Even at midday, the forest reeked of something dark and frightening, and those knots started forming in Catherine's stomach again. And yet again Catherine pushed those feelings aside.

"I mean come on! I was trying to do a good deed!" Catherine continued to herself, bending down at the sight of skid marks in the dirt, like something had been thrown hard across the ground.

"Stupid rabbit." She grumbled, as she continued her search.

Bunny couldn't remember the last time he had received a beating like that. She'd destroyed him, although she'd had the upper hand of catching him totally off guard.

He knew that the guardians might not have realised it quite yet, but that it wouldn't take all that long for them to realise he was gone.

Jack would come by the warren at some point, Bunny just hoped that one of the totems had put out that fire, he'd hate to come back and find that some of his googies had been burnt and hurt.

Gorgyra was a foul spirit, a nymph from the Greek underworld. Also, had a bit of a thing for Pitch. Bunny didn't know and really didn't care if the feelings were reciprocated, but because of Pitch's reasonably recent undoing Gorgyra was somewhat angry.

Pissed, was the word she had used.

He'd been caught completely off guard, and in an attempt to get her away from the warren and the inhabitants, he'd leapt into a tunnel and ended up somewhere in England.

The next thing he'd done was put the tunnels of emergency lockdown, so that nobody else bar North could get to the warren.

Gorgyra hadn't gloated, hadn't taunted, she hadn't had to. Gorgyra had this unique ability, to manipulate a few particular emotions in an individual. Anxiety, nervousness, that kind of thing.

Bunny had been practically frozen, he wasn't afraid in the slightest, but the anxiety had him almost unable to move.

It through sheer force of will that he'd managed to deflect that strike to his chest, he'd only been able to deflect it to his abdomen but still, better than his heart.

That's when she'd come in.

She had long hair, reaching to her mid back and it was a pale shade of brown, it shone bronze when the light hit it. Not that there was much light to actually hit it, other than the dim light of the moon.

Her eyes shone blue, glimmering brightly as the light danced in her eyes. For just a moment, she looked terrifying. Not to mention the angry glint and roar as she swung the branch straight into Gorgyra's head.

Now, he was in her spare bedroom.

He owe her a lot, she'd saved his life, brought him into her home and then tended to him. He'd seen her face after she'd finished, hands shaken, ashen complexion.

That kid wasn't a nurse, wasn't old enough for one thing but she wasn't completely green. Dealt with injuries, but not on that scale.

He sighed, although she'd locked him in he knew he wasn't a prisoner. For the sake of keeping him a secret, she'd locked the door. He'd heard children, so that was a good idea.

So, she was smart.

Smart, capable, and the only reason he was still alive right now.

And she was in danger, as long as he was here, she was in danger.

Bunny sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. She was in danger whether or not he was there, Gorgyra wasn't going to let that hit go.

No, definitely not.

Bag in hand, Catherine started making her way back to the streets and out of the forest. Her hands were scratched, and she'd ripped the elbow of her jacket climbing a tree to retrieve the damn thing.

It was only as big as a clutch, the clasp on the strap had gotten caught on a branch and just hung there. Catherine complimented whoever made it because nothing had fallen out, it had stayed buckled shut.

She got back to the streets and the knots in her stomach relaxed, and she sighed when they did. That feeling was becoming way too familiar, she was beginning to think it wasn't just fear that was making her nervous anymore.

"What was she?" Catherine asked, thinking to the rabbits attacker.

She'd exploded, into…darkness? Shadows? What was the correct term for it?

Catherine sighed, kicking a stone as she walked through the streets.

"A rabbit, I mean come on! A giant rabbit." She hissed to herself, glancing around to make sure the streets were empty.

She kept walking, kicking the stone as she went, the breeze was picking up again. She shivered, she hadn't brought a coat, just her flimsy little jacket.

"Bloody wind." She cursed, as the chill coursed through her.

It was colder than it had been, but Catherine just blamed it on the fact that it was two days till November and the winter wind was making it's move.

"Speaking of winter, what's a rabbit doing out in winter? Don't they hibernate?" She asked, and the wind picked up suddenly.

"Ow." She hissed, pulling at her ripped jacket to try and hide the small smear of blood on her elbow.

It wasn't until she reached her front door, turning to peer out at the street, that she saw it. A flash of white and blue, leaping between houses.

Catherine glared at it, before shutting the door behind her and ducking up the stairs without so much as a word to her family and into the spare room.

She faced the rabbit after she locked the door behind her, grin on her face and bag in hand.

"Found it!" She beamed, handing the rabbit the small messenger bag.

He smirked up at her, and Catherine felt her heart leap slightly. Big, really big buck teeth.

_Herbivores, _Catherine reminded herself, _rabbits are herbivores._

"Is the magic balm stuff you need in there?" She asked, and the rabbit nodded.

"It is…blimey, what happened to you?" The rabbit asked, and Catherine frowned.

Australian? Well, that explained the boomerang.

The rabbit reached forwards, and took a light hold of her elbow. She snickered and examined it herself, pulling her jacket off.

"It was in a tree." She giggled, and the rabbit rolled it's eyes.

"Thanks."

Catherine shrugged.

"No skin off my back." She grinned, and the rabbit chuckled.

"Nah, just ya elbow mate."

**Have another chapter! Wooo! I'm glad that everybody is still enjoying the story! It's gonna pick up real soon, promise!**

**Lady of the wilds, I am? Thanks! I hope you continue to enjoy the story!**

**Bookgal7, What did Bunnymund say? Hm, I didn't actually plan anything…I'll come up with something!**

**Blackshadow, Chocolate chip! I love chocolate chip cookies! :3**

**Ashthetyto, (extremely) good work? Why thank you! Suspense is my way of making sure you read the next chapter!**

**Desiree Phantom, Crazy tail? Cotton tail…Hehe…**

**Read and Review guys!**

**Tulip Out.**


	5. Chapter 5

He had a name! Catherine had discovered, not long after returning that the rabbit had a name! Although said name was 'Bunny' so it had her in fits of giggling.

"What?" Bunny had demanded, and she'd tried her best to hold back an undignified snort.

"Well," She snickered, "at least it isn't fluffy."

She continued smoothing the green paste Bunny had handed her onto his wound, watching in astonishment as the black cobwebs receded slowly from his skin.

"What about you?" He asked, watching her with a professional eye.

"Huh? Oh!" She snickered "Catherine, my name's Catherine."

Bunny nodded, still watching her as she finished bandaging his wound.

"What was she? The thing that attacked you?" Catherine asked, putting away the medical kit and sitting at the chair by the table under the window.

"Gorgyra." He told her simply, and his hackles raised slightly as he said it.

Bunny didn't like this person, and Catherine was inclined to not like her either.

"Isn't…isn't that out of final fantasy?" Catherine asked herself, frowning as she rested her head on her hand.

"She's from Greece, a nymph." Bunny explained and Catherine nodded slowly.

"Any relation to Nyx?" She asked gently, and Bunny stared at her.

She turned her head so that she was staring out of the window and anywhere but at Bunny, embarrassed at her own input.

"Not related, but Nyx, Gorgyra and Orphne are often confused as being the same creature."

She looked back over at Bunny, trying to hide her smirk. Bunny hadn't made a move from the bed, Catherine didn't know why. Maybe he wasn't well enough to yet?

"Do you have the knife?" He asked, and Catherine frowned.

"Knife? What knife?"

Bunny looked pointedly down at his injury, and Catherine folded her arms across her chest stubbornly.

"That was not a knife. Knives have handles, and clear blades." Catherine informed him but he just rolled his eyes.

"It's not a normal blade, it's magic." He told her, and she moved to the box she had locked the 'blade' in.

It had made her feel uneasy, sitting there as she worked on the very injury it had caused and so she had locked it into a box where she couldn't see it.

"And be careful when ya touch it, don't let it touch too much of ya skin." He informed her sternly, and she rolled her eyes before making a big show of pulling on a pair of gloves.

"Don't wear gloves ya Gumby!" He barked over and she flinched, glaring over her shoulders at him, but his eyes remained harsh.

"Wearing gloves alerts the magic, you've got to touch it with ya skin," He sighed "just don't let it touch too _much_ skin."

She opened the box carefully, reaching in to pull out the blade, making sure that she held it in her fingertips. She didn't get it, she'd pulled it out with both hands yesterday and nothing had happened so what was all the fuss about?

However, the anxious tingling feeling she got when she touched it was probably it. She'd felt much the same when she'd pulled it out.

Moving as quickly as she dared, she moved over to the bed and dropped the 'blade' (Catherine refused to think of it as a blade, magic or not) onto the bed sheets.

Bunny had been watching her all the while, he did a lot of that.

Her fingers stung, and when she looked there were several very thin lines along the pad of her fingers. Cuts, tiny little cuts that matched the ones on her palms from yesterday. She hadn't even realised they were there.

"Come ere." Bunny ordered, and she walked around the bed until she was on the left side, nearest to Bunny and the door.

He held out his paw, and she stared down at it with a raised eyebrow.

"Hand." He ordered, and she then looked at him with a raised eyebrow, but slowly placed her hand in his much larger paw.

She squeaked when he pulled her hand up and placed her fingertips in his mouth, and the sound died as she stared at him in total and utter shock.

After he had finished, he dried the tips of her fingers on his fur and handed her her hand back.

"That'll stop the pain." He told her simply, taking the not-actually-a-blade into his hand and running his fingers along it.

"Wont it cut you too?" She asked, watching the way he turned the it's-still-not-a-blade in his hands.

"Wont bother me, not the first time I've been cut by this." He kept turning it, before sighing and dropping it back onto the sheets in front of me.

"What stops her?" Catherine asked, and he peered up at her curiously.

She shifted where she stood, scratching the back of her head nervously "She'll be coming back right? So…I just wanted to know what stopped her."

Bunny smirked, she really _was _clever. Very clever, not many people would work it out, and even fewer would do all that she has.

"Salt wont that's for sure." He told her, and she looked over at the line of salt on the windowsill.

"Damn." She cursed, moving over to the window to wipe the salt away.

"What made ya think it would?" He asked and she shrugged her shoulders lazily, almost dejectedly.

"Found a few things on the internet, said salt stopped demons, evils spirits, that sort of thing." She explained gently, she felt stupid now that she knew it wouldn't work.

"It does, but it wont stop her." He told her and she nodded glaring at the salt like it was the cause of all her problems.

"Will anything?" She asked and he frowned, shaking his head.

"Not unless you can do magic." Bunny told her and she snapped her fingers.

"Aw damn, sorry I failed at magic in school." She told him and he rolled his eyes.

"You just need to watch out, Gorgyra may not come after you outright," He warned her sternly "but she _will _come after you."

"I can look after myself, saved you didn't I?" She huffed, placing her hands on her hips defiantly, and Bunny rolled his eyes.

"I didn't thank ya fer that did I?" He asked and she shook her head.

"Nope." She told him, popping the p.

"I will."

**Holy crap on a cracker! Thirty reviews!? Thanks you guys!**

**Avatar Aang, He'll find him…eventually…hehe…**

**Lady Minuialwen, Is adorable, no?**

**Ashthetyto, I'm glad your enjoying the story! I was really worried about what everyone would think!**

**Invisibleamericanburgers, Ah! Can't update too fast! Got to write, study and get ready for exams!**

**Lady of the wilds, I'm glad you like it!**

**OnePiecefan202, I'm glad you think so! I hate Mary-Sue's so I try my hardest not to write them .**

**Bookgal7, Oooh, I had forgotten about Bugs Bunny…I may use that…or Roger Rabbit…hehe…**

**Blackshadow, Oooh! *Munches on cookie* Yummy, yes! Bunny does care! Is it Jack? Or am I being a meanie? It could be either.**

** 14, I think they will ;)**

**Desiree Phantom, Hm, agreed, I shall endeavour to put in line breaks!**

**Read and Review guys!**

**Tulip Out.**


	6. Chapter 6

Catherine's dreams were plagued that night, creatures made of darkness roaming through the streets hunting her down without mercy. It seemed no matter how fast she ran, they were always right behind her.

She couldn't get away, it just crept creeping forwards and trying to drag her into oblivion.

"CATHERINE!"

She woke with a start, her head slammed into the bunk above her and she yelped in pain.

"WHAT!?" She screamed down the stairs as she rubbed her head, and assessed that fact that none of her sisters were in the room, nor were any of her brothers.

Two sisters and three brothers, who _did_ that?

"WE'RE GOING OUT!"

Catherine screamed down at her, slamming open her bedroom door and screaming down at her mum who could be heard laughing as she herded the children into the car.

"Old hag." Catherine grunted as she jogged down the stairs and grabbed some fruits, and carrots.

Carrots and lettuce, she figured Bunny would eat them and if he didn't then that was tough because there was only so much she could do without her mum noticing.

She did have the sense to pull on her dressing gown before she walked into the spare room, taking slow steps as she entered. She didn't know why, it wasn't like he could get changed, he had no clothes.

_Now there's a pleasant thought, _she thought sarcastically to herself _A giant __**naked **__anthropomorphic rabbit. Joy._

"You up fluffy?" She called in, and got a grunt in return.

"Fluffy?" He asked pulling himself up to watch her as she came in, holding a plate full of vegetables and a plate of toast.

"Please tell me you eat carrots." She pleaded and he laughed.

"Yeah, and lettuce." He smirked and she sighed with relief, handing him the plate before sitting on the bed and taking a bite out of her toast.

It was the strangest thing, to be sat with a rabbit both crunching away at their breakfast in a situation neither of them could ever have imagined in their wildest most impossible dreams.

Catherine had an essay that needed to be in tomorrow, and it was laying on the desk underneath her laptop waiting for her to finish it. She'd already written two pages, she just needed to write the conclusion so, chewing on her toast she got to work.

Bunny didn't say anything, just continued to chew on his carrots as she multitasked, writing and eating at the same time.

He was still trying to figure out, why she hadn't 'freaked out' as Jack would have put it. Most people would, after a certain age people stopped having that ability to just accept things for what they were.

Any other teenager would have bolted the moment Gorgyra exploded into darkness, or when they noticed he was actually a rabbit but she didn't. Catherine just took it in her stride almost.

"Ya not like other teenagers, are ya?" He finally asked, and she peered over at him with a piece of toast hanging out of her mouth.

She swallowed it quickly, coughing slightly as she did so.

"I bloody well hope not." She remarked with a frown, but he just shook his head.

"Ya know what I mean." He told her, and she shrugged her shoulders.

"Not really." She told him, half focused on him and half focused on her essay, scribbling out a misspelled word.

"Most teenagers, would ave panicked. Wouldn't a been able to deal with this." Bunny pointed out to her and she shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm not most teenagers, I pride myself on not being most teenagers." She murmured, frowning down at her essay and at her thesis.

"Ya sure?"

She frowned, pushing the essay aside and leaning her head on her hand to stare at Bunny. She hadn't doubted he was smart, she just hadn't figured this _kind _of smart. Analytical, thoughtful.

"This is a very superstitious town, full of very superstitious people and some weird legends. You learn to deal with weird occurrences." She told him with a nonchalant shrug.

"Are any of 'em true?" He asked her, stifling a hiss of pain as he propped himself further up.

He didn't like being confined to a bed, but until the infection was one hundred percent gone he couldn't risk getting out of the bed. He wondered how much trouble he was being.

Catherine glanced over at her clock, in about half an hour she had a class to get to. Damn Mondays, damn them to hell. She only had two classes, English lit and History but they just seemed to drag on.

Catherine blamed this on the fact that it was indeed Monday, and by law Mondays were evil.

"I think so, you can't really get solid proof for folklore." She told him, cursing and grabbing up her papers.

"Listen, I have to go to class." She told him apologetically but he just shrugged his shoulders.

"You've got a life ta live, it's no problem." He told her and she nodded, getting the rest of her stuff up together and getting ready to run down the stairs.

"I'll be back in about two hours." She called, running from the room and locking the door behind her.

"Be careful." Bunny muttered, knowing that she wouldn't hear him but saying it nonetheless.

Catherine studied three different courses, and because of this most of her week was busy but not overly so. This meant she could help Bunny and keep her family safe from gargoyle or whatever it was.

Catherine had been wary, but not really for herself. She kept expecting a phone call from her mum, the police, the hospital, telling her that one of her siblings or her mum had been hurt in a freak accident.

She hadn't actually expected something to happen to _her._

That was why when she had been caught completely off guard walking home, that was why when hands that belonged to no one shoved her into the road she fell. It was also why the car clipped her side as the brakes screamed at it to stop.

She yelped as the car clipped her, twisting to avoid most of the damage and landing with a pained grunt as she hit the tarmac.

"Hey! You alright?!" The driver yelled, pulling her up and looking her over at arms length.

"Yeah," She grunted, holding her side "you only clipped me it'll only be bruise." She grinned at him and he nodded, looking like he was about to cry before he glared around him.

"You should report this, I saw someone push you, I know I did." He snarled and she laughed.

"I wouldn't worry, but thank you very much." Catherine smiled, before turning and practically running back home.

Bunny was just gonna looooove this.

**Rawr! Am back! This took a while because I've been trying to finish my novel for a competition, only three hundred or so words and I can officially enter! Yay!**

**Avatar Aang, glad you like it!**

**Inisibleamericanburgers, Catherine's blunt because I'm blunt, I don't know how to beat around the bush really, so me trying to write a character that does seems pointless really ^_^'**

**OnePieceFan202, Oh yeah, Gorgyra has something planned for sure. But what? Ah! The suspense is killing me! Oh wait, it's not, because I already know what's going to happen. Hehe.**

**I-Am-Jack Frost, Jack is stalking her! And as for a threat? Well, I can't say just yet.**

**BlackPaperMoon82462, Bwahahaahahaa! That made my day, his man dress…pfffft…**

**Fk306, Glad you enjoy the story!**

**Lady Minuialwen, :D**

**Desiree Phantom, Sarcasm is my second language.**

**Blackshadow32, Oh I love Greek mythology, it's so much fun! I just…I cannot put into words how much I love Greek mythology!**

**Doug, Glad your enjoying it!**

**Read and Review guys!**

**Tulip Out.**


	7. Chapter 7

Her ribs ached, and the skin had been grazed off of her elbow again, not to mention on her shoulder. When she got in she bellowed something at her mum and siblings, before running up the stairs to inspect the damage.

"Oh damn." She muttered, peering at the ugly bruise on her side with contempt.

The bruise started under her bra strap and reached just below her waistline, and it was already a nasty shade of violet with yellowing edges. Catherine wondered how long she could hide it before either her family or Bunny noticed.

"Why should I care if he sees it?" She murmured to herself, wetting a flannel and using it to gently clean the grazes on her elbow and shoulder before she decided she needed to get changed.

"I'll run out of clothes before this is over." She grunted, tugging on a black long sleeved turtle neck top and grabbing her schoolwork.

"Cath? We're going to see your father on Saturday, do you want to come?" Her mum called up and Catherine pulled a face.

"No." She called back down sourly, before unlocking the spare room and walking in, growling under her breath.

"Is school that bad?" Bunny asked, and she grunted.

"No. School is great." She told him, dumping her schoolwork onto the table under the window and glaring down at it.

"Then why tha sour face?" He asked curiously and she shrugged her shoulders, barely hiding a wince as her ribs jarred.

"Nothing. How's your wound?" She asked over, changing the subject quickly.

Bunny peered down at his injury, the fur was starting to poke back out now but it was still very clear that there had been a bad injury there not too long ago.

"I'll be up by tomorrow, then I can start lookin' fer Gorgyra." He told her and she nodded, but she looked thoughtful.

"Is that what you do? Hunt down the bad guys?" Catherine asked but he just shook his head.

"Nah mate, I'm a guardian." He told her, puffing his chest out with pride.

"Guardian of what?" She asked, ignoring her schoolwork for the moment as whatever Bunny had to say was bound to be more interesting than her History essay.

"Children. There are five of us." Bunny told her and she nodded, eager to hear more.

Bunny snapped his fingers "Comin' ta think of it, I never told ya that I was the Easter Bunny did I?"

She stared at him for a moment, and then pointed at him slowly.

"Easter Bunny?" She asked, and he nodded.

Catherine nodded slowly, before turning to look out the window. Her shoulders started shaking, and it took Bunny a moment to realise that she was laughing.

"Oi, what's so funny?" He demanded and she hugged her stomach to try and stop herself from laughing, because god did it hurt to laugh right now.

"You're the…pft…fluffy the Easter…pahaha…" She gasped covering her pain with laughter as she calmed down.

Bunny looked more than a bit peeved at her reaction, and she gasped a few times before she finally managed to keep a straight face.

"Ya finished?" He asked her rudely, and she nodded mutely.

"Bloody pom." He huffed and she snorted but didn't start laughing again.

"Me, North, Jack, Tooth and Sandy are the guardians." He told her and she frowned.

"Who?"

"Me, Santa, Jack Frost, the tooth fairy and the Sandman." He told her quickly and she nodded, letting him resume his explanation.

"It's our job to protect the children from all the dark creatures that would hurt them." Bunny told her, and her expression slowly darkened.

He watched her mutely, waiting to hear whatever was bothering her but she didn't speak. She just stared down at the ground with a haunted expression.

"What is it?" He asked her gently, and she shrugged her shoulders.

"Do I look like I was born yesterday?" He demanded and she glared over at him.

"You protect children from monsters right?" She asked hotly and he nodded, waiting for her to continue.

"Why didn't you ever protect me?"

Bunny frowned at her, what in the name of the moon did that mean?

"What do ya mean?" He asked, trying not to raise her voice for fear she'd raise her own.

They couldn't do with getting found out now, not when Bunny was finally starting to recover.

"When there were monsters banging at my bedroom window, when I was home alone and things kept trying to hurt me, where were you?" She demanded, clenching her fists together and keeping them resolutely on the table, almost as if she were afraid she were going to hit Bunny.

What Bunny didn't realise was that she would, Catherine was normally a calm person but everybody had their limit. Even Catherine would snap if pushed enough, and her run ins with the darker things was something of a painful subject for her.

Bunny hadn't said anything, he was just watching her as she started to crack.

"I mean, that's you job isn't it? You just said so yourself and yet…" She barked out a humourless laugh, and flinched afterwards.

That caught Bunny's attention, but he stayed silent.

"Yet when they used to come for me at night, when they used to hurt me and chase me in my nightmares, nobody ever came to save me!" She cried, and she was no longer worried about raising her voice at this point.

"Keep ya voice down or someone'll hear." Bunny told her firmly, but she didn't really listen to him.

"I've still got scars, little black scars that wont ever heal. I don't even know where half of them came from." She hissed furiously, taking her eyes from Bunny to glare at the table.

"Nobody else got hurt, were you protecting them?" She asked, her voice was low now but Bunny would be able to hear her even if she whispered.

"They told me I'd grow out of them, they weren't real…but they are. They still come at night." She muttered under her breath, and Bunny wanted to pull her into an embrace and just tell her that it was alright but he'd be lying.

"Catherine, c'mere." Bunny ordered, and after a moment Catherine pulled herself up and walked over to the edge of the bed.

When she just stood there, Bunny pulled her down and she landed on the bed with a huff.

And a wince, but Bunny would address that in a moment.

"Catherine, up until about a year ago there were only four guardians." Bunny explained slowly and she nodded. "Try as we might, we can't be everywhere at once. And sometimes a child get's overlooked."

She snorted, what an understatement that turned out to be. Overlooked, brushed under the carpet and trodden on sounded better.

"And sometimes there are children out there that are different, children like you," He continued, "children that the monsters are drawn to like magnets."

"That's just great isn't it?" She muttered to herself and Bunny chuckled, pulling her up so she was resting on the headboard next to him and draping an arm over her shoulders.

"I promise once this is over, I'll protect you, alright?" He asked, and she nodded slowly.

"Now," He muttered, giving her hair and friendly ruffling "why do ya keep wincing?"

Catherine stiffened, and he knew that she'd been trying to hide it. If she'd been trying to hide it, it meant that something had happened.

"Well," She started slowly, "there was this car…"

**Update! Hope you enjoy it, this is one of my last prewritten chapters and my first exam is in two weeks. Get ready for suspense.**

**Desiree Phantom, The child must run, but will she be quick enough? Mwahaha! I've always been sarcastic, it promotes intelligence hehe**

**Avatar Aang, thanks!**

**Blackshadow, Greek is fun. Bunny is gonna be overjoyed. (Sarcasm hehe)**

**Guest, I'm glad you like the story! And I hope you continue to!**

**Invader sugar, oh, he will.**

**Lady Minuialwen, Can't you guess?**

**Fk306, Glad you enjoy it!**

** , I like intense ahaha, hope you continue to enjoy the story!**

**Read and Review guys!**

**Tulip Out.**


	8. Chapter 8

Catherine didn't look at him during her explanation, but the arm that was draped over her shoulder was getting stiffer and stiffer as she went on. She tried to pawn it off as not being very serious, but Bunny just would not have it.

"Show me." He ordered and she sighed.

"You wont take no for an answer will you?" She asked gently, and he shook his head.

"Ta hell I will."

She sighed, before she scooted away slightly and pulled up her top, wishing that the bruise had healed even a little since the incident.

If anything it had gotten worse.

It was swelling slightly, and Catherine had been trying her hardest not to wince as she breathed but even so, it hurt like a bitch. It was red where it wasn't bruised, making the surrounding area look very inflamed and sore.

"It's not that bad, honest." She murmured, and he glared up at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah I don't believe that either."

He pulled back up so that he was sat against the headboard once more, and he was staring angrily out of the window.

Catherine sat still for a moment, tugging down her top and leaning back so that she was sat beside him in the same position only she was staring down at her hands. Why did she feel bad? She was the one that got injured! Yet she felt bad, especially with the way Bunny was just glaring at the injury as though he could see exactly what happened in his mind.

Visualising it, Catherine thought absently as he continued to glare at the injury.

Or, the clothing on top of the injury as it were.

"Uh…Bunny?" She asked him gently "You're…making me somewhat uncomfortable."

He pulled back and leaned against the headboard, pinching the bride of his nose and making a strange frustrated noise.

"You don't need to get worked up," Catherine murmured "you said she'd be coming and I wasn't careful enough."

Bunny draped his large furry arm over her shoulders again, squeezing her shoulder reassuringly as she tried to do the exact same.

"Tomorrow, I'll be outta this bed and I'll keep her away." He promised and she nodded.

"Now I just got to work out how to get you out the house." She agreed and he shrugged his shoulders.

"We'll get to tha when it happens."

She nodded, "So, will you just disappear? What if you get hurt again?" Bunny glanced at her frowning face, watching as she stared out of the window anxiously.

"There's a clearing in the forest, open canopy plenty of light," she murmured thoughtfully "if you need help I could meet you there."

Bunny laughed, actually laughed! And Catherine glared at him furiously.

"What the hell, is so funny?!" She demanded and he shook his head, taking in a deep breath so that he could stop.

"I can't believe you're a teenager, ya just so…wise." He told her with a small smile and her ears went pink, and she glared at her hands.

"M'not, just mature." She mumbled and Bunny shook his head.

"Ya ribs hurtin'?" He asked gently and she shrugged her shoulders.

"Only when I breath." She smirked and he rolled his eyes.

"Dill."

"Bloody rabbit."

The two smirked, just at the normality of everything. Bunny wondered when everything was going to come crashing down on her, because even though she'd lasted this long it was bound to. No matter how strong a persons mind, something like this was just not going to go in without some sort of turmoil.

Catherine jumped from the bed, snapping her fingers and making Bunny jump (not that he'd admit it.)

"Sorry! Got to check my emails." She murmured, flipping open her laptop and scanning through it, before she smirked.

_Dear Cath,_

_You have the Easter Bunny?! The guardians are looking all over for him! He went missing a few days ago and nobody has seen him since!_

Catherine peered up at Bunny "I didn't know you knew Jamie." her tone was accusing and Bunny frowned.

"Didn't know you knew 'im either."

She grunted "He's my cousin."

_I'll send Jack over! Oh, Jack Frost is, well he's Jack Frost! But, you'll know him when you see him, trust me. He'll come get Bunny, but uh…well, Jacks a bit distrustful. He'll be fine once he meets you, but watch out for some ice._

_Jamie x_

"The guardians are sending Jack Frost apparently." She read over to him, and Bunny groaned.

"Not frostbite." He pleaded, practically begged and Catherine grinned over at him.

"Frostbite? Don't you like Frost?" She asked, still grinning at him and he grunted.

"Frost is alright, just gets on my nerves." He told her with a shrug and she mimicked the action.

_Jamie, _

_Tell Frost that there's some sort of Greek nymph here hunting Bunny. He got a bit injured but he's alright. I've been keeping him alive and out of trouble, don't worry._

_See you at the family get together_

_Cath x_

"Well, any help is good right?" She asked peering over at the clock, grumbling when she realised that it was getting late.

"You should get ta bed." He ordered and she nodded.

"I know, I have first and second period tomorrow at college." She huffed, shutting her laptop and peering out the window at the dark sky.

"You goin ta bed?" Bunny chuckled and she shrugged her shoulders lazily.

"That means I have to try and get to bed without waking up the munchkins." She mumbled thoughtfully, and Catherine knew that at least one of the buggers would wake up if she tried to get to her bed.

She was more than willing to bet that her brothers had ditched their room and snuggled up into her bed, which normally wouldn't be problem but because Bunny was in the spare bed, it left her…bed…less…

"Stay in here." Bunny told her and she peered over at him.

Bunny shrugged his shoulders at her curious look. "It's a double bed, I know I'm big but I'm not that big."

Catherine took a moment to think about it, and a moment to push away that freaky twisty feeling in her stomach before she approached the bed.

"Eh, might as well." She grumbled, crawling in and curling up under the covers facing away from Bunny.

She heard him shuffle down into the bed and she flicked the light off and plunged the room into darkness. Catherine lay there, listening to Bunny's breathing as the moon peaked through the window.

_I shouldn't be enjoying this as much as I am._

Bunny murmured something and rolled, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

…_damn it…_

**Fluff is fluffy. Okay, this took so long because my folks took my laptop from me *grumblemumblegrumble* But now it's back! I may have fewer updates because my final exams start next week and HOLY CRAP I AM SO GOD DAMN NERVOUS YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE *Hyperventilates***

**Avatar Aang, glad you still like it!**

**I-Am-Jack Frost, Jack is hiding :3**

**Lady Minuialwen, Glad you like it!**

**Georgeisthewin, Updating now! (Sorry for the wait)**

**Desiree Phantom, Is it good? The croods, I mean, and I'm glad you liked her reaction! I giggled when I saw him the first time, and then melted into a puddle of fangirliness when I watched the film.**

**Invisibleamericanburgers, All my best characters have spunk!**

**Blackshadow, Oh Bunny is juuuust graaaaaaaaaaand.**

**Read and Review guys!**

**Tulip Out.**


	9. Chapter 9

Catherine wasn't entirely sure, how they had managed to end up in this particular position but she found that she was somewhat stuck.

Her back was pressed against Bunny's front and he had reached his arm around her and pulled her into him tightly. His chin was resting on her shoulder and he'd buried his face in the crook of her neck.

His breath tickled her lightly, but she was too busy trying to escape from the rabbits grip and get to school. She didn't have to be there for another hour and a half but she'd like to grab a shower first.

Bunny muttered something, rolling over and taking Catherine with him. She bit back a yelp as she went from being beside him to laying on his chest.

"Bloody rabbit." She growled, rolling so that she was on her side and not her back, Bunny grunted but didn't release her from his grip.

"Wake up." She hissed, pushing herself up onto her arms and then reaching down to flick Bunny's nose.

His eyes opened suddenly, and she glowered down at him.

"You have one hell of a grip." She told him and he snickered, chuckling up at her.

Both stayed there, staring at each other.

"I need to go to school." Catherine blurted out and she slid from Bunny's know weakened grip, and rushed out of the room.

Holy crap that was…awkward? Catherine wasn't entirely sure what word she would have used to explain the situation but she couldn't find a positive word for it…alright, that wasn't true she could find _several _positive words about it and that worried her more than the list of negatives that had leapt into her head.

She flicked on the shower and cranked up the temperature as she stepped under the almost scalding stream, hissing as the water aggravated her cuts and bruises. It didn't matter to Catherine, she knew that they only stung because the dirt was getting washed out so it didn't bother her all that much.

_You enjoyed that way too much._

Catherine grunted to herself, switching on the radio to drown out her own thoughts.

Bunny sat on the bed, and the first thing he did was slap his paw to his face in an attempt to clear his head. Catherine had run off and he'd heard what sounded like a shower switch on moments later, and then a radio of sorts.

What was he thinking!? One, he was a pooka, she was a human. Two, he was immortal, and she was not. Those two reasons were quite enough for Bunny to know that he was getting in too deep with this girl.

He'd said to her that he would be hunting down Gorgyra today, so that gave him an excuse to get out of this place for a while and clear his head.

But he knew he'd come back if she called, and that really didn't help his slowly fouling mood. What also didn't help was that he was almost one hundred percent sure that she wouldn't call even if her life depended on it.

_Bloody pom._

He'd have to keep an eye on her that was for sure, she just attracted trouble.

He pulled himself from the bed, peering down at his injury. The fur was starting to grow back but it would be a while before it was all the same length again, and the injury looked far better than it had before. Every day it got better and Bunnymund got stronger, he knew Jack was on his way and that meant that it would be even easier to find Gorgyra, although not necessarily easier to beat her.

Of course, his mind kept returning to the thought that Catherine was target number one. How would he explain that to Jack? Well, alright explaining that to Jack would be easy, explaining to Jack that if she got hurt Gorgyra was going to end up with her head on a spike would be much harder.

"Hey, your up."

Bunny turned to the door and nodded with a small smile, reaching down to pick up his bag and broken boomerang, the other one had been lost somewhere along the way.

"Need to get searching for Gorgyra, mind showing me where this clearing is?" He asked, and she nodded raking her hand through her damp her.

Bunny tried to ignore the fact that she really looked quite beautiful when she did that.

"Sure, just let me grab my things." She muttered reaching for a bag on the floor before tugging it lazily over her shoulders, before she thought better of it, tugged it off, pulled on a jacket and then tugged the bag back on.

"Any idea how we're going to get out?" She asked and he frowned.

"The back door?" He offered and she rolled her eyes, heading towards the door and clicking it unlocked so that they could both slip through.

Her brothers and sisters would be at school, her mum at work. There wasn't really anything to worry about except the neighbours and their kids.

Catherine kind of didn't want him to go, she'd gotten used to his presence and the nightmares hadn't been so bad with him here. There certainly hadn't been any monsters since he'd been there, and that was a more than welcome change in Catherine's life.

They snuck down the stairs and out of the back of the house, and as Catherine peered around to the left she could have sworn she saw that flash of blue and white again. She pushed it from her mind, ignoring at as she and Bunny moved out of the back of her house and behind the shed.

"Why is tha shed in tha way of tha door?" Bunny asked her gently.

"Something got in once, I moved the shed so it wouldn't get in again." She told him with a light shrug of her shoulders, pushing her way through the door, she missed Bunny's scowl.

It may not have been intentional, but Bunny felt like she'd made a snide jab at him with that remark. He wouldn't have blamed her.

Once the shed was moved the two ducked out, Catherine leading the way down the twisting turning alleys until they came out to the edge of the forest.

"You know ya way around." Bunny mumbled and Catherine smirked.

"Should do. Lived here all my life."

They continued into the forest, and Bunny kept one of his large paws on the undamaged boomerang as they moved deeper, they reached the clearing and Bunny stopped to peer around him.

"Not bad." He mumbled.

The trees opened up at the top and light rushed down into the clearing, it was lined with dainty flowers and thorny bushes with plenty of natural covering to keep anybody away, Bunny wouldn't have been able to find it had Catherine not been there.

"Stumbled upon this little beauty when I was seven." Catherine told him proudly as she twirled around in the centre of the clearing, and Bunny watched as she meandered over to a small tree, where the trunk was hollow and pulled out a few books.

"What a those?" Bunny asked and Catherine shrugged her shoulders nervously.

"Books. Things I write when I'm here." She murmured to herself and Bunny let it drop, whatever they were, they were private.

"I've got to go to school, I'll meet you back here around three, kay?" Catherine called as she stuffed the extra books in her bag.

"Alright, see ya at three." Bunny called to her as she vanished back out of the forest.

Neither heard the other, call out gently to each other.

"Be careful."

**Right, have another chapter guys! First exam in like, THREE DAYS ASAHFGSGLSDF NERVOUS *DIES***

**Invader sugar, I like adorableness cause it's adorable :3**

**Georgeisthewin, IT'S SO CUTE I'M GONNA DIE! *Ahem* Jack is coooomiiiiiiinnngggg!**

**Chocolate1999, I'm glad you found it too!**

**I-Am-Jack Frost, okay!**

**Lady Minuialwen, Indeed, but is this good? You may decide ahahaha :3**

**Fk306, Glad you like it!**

**Desiree Phantom, Jack and Bunny remind me of me and my brother(s) cause we act like that, but the moment someone insults the other we're like 'aw hell no get away from him/her!' so I really get it ****J**

**Dragoscilvio, I had actually something planned like that, although there will be plenty of Jack and Bunny brotherliness, there will also be a slice of Catherine involved.**

**Blackshadow, I hope I ace my exams too ahaha, glad you like the chapter!**

**Redwallgurl, Aw! I'm glad you've enjoyed it all!**


	10. Chapter 10

School was dragging now that Catherine had met Bunny, and when she finally escaped she practically ran from the school and out into the forest. She grinned, skidding to a halt inside the clearing before she pulled out her ipod and checked the time.

Three fifteen. She was late, but surely Bunny would have waited.

"Oi! Rabbit!" She yelled out into the clearing and huffed, peering around her with hidden anxiety.

She may not know Bunny very well, but surely he wouldn't turn up late for this, he would be furious if she did this to him.

"Bloody rabbit! I'll skin you!" She yelled into the forest and sniggered, she'd already de-fluffed Bunny when cleaning that wound, maybe he'd take her seriously.

_Unlikely, he's huge!_

"Stupid flipping-" She began, and then yelped when frost shot onto her arm.

She hissed as the cold burned like fire, and staggered back away from the direction the ice had come and slammed her unfrozen fist against her frozen arm to shatter the ice.

"So, you're the one that has Bunny?" A voice asked, and Catherine span, fists up in a fighting position as she stared at her attacker.

"What are you supposed to be?" She demanded of the white haired, blue clad teenage boy.

He glared at her with icy blue eyes, and pointed a large Sheppard's crook at her menacingly.

"I'm Jack Frost, I'm a guardian." He told her, and she shrieked with laughter.

"You? Pwahaaha! You're a…haha…pixie!"

Jack clearly did not appreciate her reaction, because he shot another stream of ice at her and it latched painfully onto her shoulder.

Catherine yelped in pain and smashed her fist against the ice again, effectively smashing it but also leaving a ugly mark where it had hit her.

"You'd better stop doing that Tinkerbell, or I swear to god, guardian or not I will kick your scrawny arse." She hissed at him angrily but he ignored her, instead raising his crook dangerously.

Without taking his eyes off of Catherine, he tilted his head slightly over his shoulder and called out into the forest.

"I found her!"

Catherine held her ground, waiting for whatever it was to come out and attack her, instead she was greeted with a vibrantly coloured…thing…shooting out of the forest and next to Jack. The vibrantly coloured one was soon joined by a gold midget and a fat old guy.

They all glared at her angrily, but Catherine could only laugh.

"You're the? Pfffft!" She bent over and started sucking in deep breaths as she tried so desperately to control her laughter.

"You think this is funny?" The fat one asked, and Catherine detected an accent, and she wondered just when Santa Clause became _Russian _of all things.

"Tell us where Bunny is!" The vibrantly coloured one-Catherine presumed it was the tooth fairy- demanded and Catherine frowned up at them, still red in the face.

"How the hell should I know?" She demanded just as angry at them, she could see what was happening here.

They thought that Catherine was the one that had attacked Bunny, and that she was holding him hostage somewhere, probably thought she was torturing him too.

"I know you've got him, I saw you carrying him." Jack accused and she threw her hands up in the air in exasperation.

"You, are a bloody pillock." Catherine informed him casually, and she barely avoided another blast of ice as it shot towards her.

Catherine had only been able to because she'd read the pixies body language, she'd seen his fist clench unconsciously and his eyes thin ever so slightly in rage. Catherine however was not prepared for the tooth fairy to come flying at her at a million miles-per-hour.

Catherine yelled out in pain as the wings of the tooth fairy slashed into her arms, first her right and then her left as it circled her, before returning to Jacks side. Then, Santa of all people, came roaring over to her with a pair of blades, one in each hand.

Catherine ducked under a wide arc that should've taken her head off, and as she ducked she grabbed a thick branch from the floor and swung it upwards into his chin.

He squawked suddenly, and Catherine gripped one of his wrists and twisted it painfully.

Santa (Bunny had called him something else, beginning with N, but Catherine couldn't remember) dropped the blade and Catherine rolled and grabbed it before facing the four mythical creatures once more.

It took her a moment to register that only three of them had attacked, and that the gold midget (The sandman probably) had not even moved during the fight. Instead, he appeared to be pointed to a mash up of golden symbols about his head, thrashing his hands at the other three to try and get their attention.

Catherine held the blade, not liking how unbalanced it felt in her hand. The pointed tip dipped forwards slightly, and she wasn't entirely sure how she would compensate for it.

_Well, for starters, I could get the other one._

When the tooth fairy shot forwards in a blur of colour, Catherine twisted her body to the side and slid her foot back into the dirt, letting the blade come around with her body and she heard and anguished scream that told her she had hit her mark.

Jack roared and came at her with Santa, but Catherine saw the attack head on, ducking under a blast of ice and deflecting the second blade towards Jack. Jack staggered back to avoid the parried strike, and Santa had to turn his body awkwardly to avoid him, so Catherine slashed at Santa's hand and the other blade hit the floor.

Another role, and Catherine was in possession of both swords.

The fight continued, and Catherine left a considerable gash on Santa's cheek, however the fight ended abruptly when Catherine crossed the blades and held them against Santa's neck.

Everybody froze, and Catherine realised with a start that her back was frozen, burning with the pain, she could feel blood trickling down her leg from a strike she didn't even remember.

Everybody was in silent, waiting for a death blow or a miraculous counter. The silence was horrifically broken with a sudden cry.

"What the bloody hell is going on?!"

**Cliffie, really bad chapter. Sorry guys, drained from my ten hour art exam. I did it though, now I just have several gruelling months of anxious waiting and even more exams till I get my results. Eep.**

**Invader sugar, ah, but then, we wouldn't have this wonderful little piece-a-crap now would we?**

**Chocolate1999, I'm glad you like it, I wasn't sure it'd be well liked :3**

**Desiree Phantom, Four words, Beauty and the Beast. Indeed in the end beast turns back into prince Adam, but initially Belle is falling for a great big hairy creature no? (You spelt bestiality wrong, apparently, I thought you were right but spellcheck disagrees)**

**Jimjam, You are? Yay!**

**Blackshadow, I just love connections, don't you? They're fabulous!**

**Lady Minuialwen, Three is a nice number, double it and you get six, three sixes is the devils number :3**

**Beloved Daughter, Jack has arrived! (Thanks for the luck!)**

**Redwallgurl, (Thanks for the luck!) Oh, Jack is just, you know, being Jack. Caring little bro ;3**

**Read and Review guys!**

**Tulip Out.**


	11. Chapter 11

Catherine looked over at Bunny without moving the crossed blades from Santa's throat.

"They attacked me!" She yelled over at him furiously and Bunny pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Ya sure?" He asked and she glared at him angrily, Bunny held his hands up in surrender.

"Okay, okay, well could ya at least take tha swords from North's throat?" Bunny asked and she glared at North furiously, before she pulled the swords away and he took a grateful step backwards away from her.

"Now, could ya put the swords down?" Bunny asked her taking a few steps into the clearing and she swung the blades around to point at the overgrown rabbit.

"And why the hell would I do that?" She hissed at him, and Bunny sighed.

"Ya might hurt yaself." He told her and she cackled somewhat manically.

"Hurt myself? Oh no no no, them?" She thrust the swords in the direction of the guardians, "Maybe, you?" She moved the swords back around to Bunny, "Very possibly, but me? Oh, I wont hurt myself."

Bunny sent her a disapproving look and Jack guffawed at her, so she brought the swords around to Jack.

"Something funny Tinkerbell?" She demanded and he growled, moving to point his crook at her.

"Alright, tha's enough!" Bunny called out, taking a long stride and effectively placing himself between Catherine and the guardians.

"Catherine, drop tha swords." Bunny ordered and after a moment of glaring, Catherine tossed the swords to the ground.

"And you, I expect betta of tha guardians than to attack a kid." Bunny hissed, and the guardians went to speak but Bunny turned from them and to Catherine, leaving them all somewhat dumfounded.

"Ya alright?" Bunny asked, bending down and taking her arms to look at the thin bleeding slashes on them.

"Alright? Alright!? I have been pushed in front of a car, stalked by a fucking pixie and now the so-called protectors of children, have just attacked me!" She shrieked at him and then she reached up and slapped his arm angrily.

"No I am not alright!"

Bunny was quiet for a moment before he reached around and engulfed Catherine in his large furry arms. Catherine stiffened before she relaxed into the hug and sagged, feeling defeated and really quite exhausted. It hadn't been very long, but this sort of pressure was finally smashing into her.

"I hate the guardians." Catherine murmured and Bunny chuckled, pulling away to have another look at her arms.

"I'll get those patched up soon alright? I need ta have a word with tha guardians." Bunny growled the end and Catherine felt better knowing that he was on her side.

Bunny turned to face the guardians who had watched the scene in silent, their faces ranged between angry and dumfounded.

"What tha hell were ya doing?" Bunny demanded furiously and Jack stepped up to the challenge.

"I saw her dragging you into some house!" He yelled and Bunny stared at him incredulously.

"Did ya miss tha part where she risked her life ta save mine?" He asked quietly and Jack frowned.

"Gorgyra attacked me, caught me by surprise. I used ma tunnels ta escape and put them on lockdown." Bunny explained carefully and North pulled Jack back into line with the other guardians as Bunny explained.

"Landed in tha forest somewhere, just before Gorgyra was gonna finish me off, Catherine jumped in an saved ma life."

"Didn't you get Jamie's message?" Catherine demanded coming up to stand beside Bunny with her arms folded angrily against her chest.

"What? That his cousin had found Bunny?" Jack asked with thinned eyes.

"Yeah, his cousin?" Catherine waved at him "That would be me."

The sandman floated over to her and Catherine took a hesitant step back from him, but Bunny kept a large paw on the small of her back to keep her from ducking away from the golden creature.

He reached up and took her hand, smiling up at her kindly.

"He wont hurt ya." Bunny murmured in assurance and she nodded.

"I know that, he was the only one that didn't attack me." Catherine murmured back and kneeled down so that she was level with him.

"S'up sparkles." Catherine greeted cautiously, and he waved at her kindly, reaching to her hand and taking it gently.

The feeling was instant, she could feel the warmth spread out from her fingertips and fill her body, helping to numb that pain. She sighed and stood back up, grinning down at the Sandman before she turned to Bunny.

"Why can't you do that?" She asked him with a content look on her face and he just rolled his eyes and turned back to the guardians.

"Sandy, watch Catherine." He ordered and Sandy saluted him.

"You three, over here. Now. No arguments." He barked and lead the four guardians over to the other end of the clearing.

"Bunny's pissed." Catherine sang to the three of them, but only Jack turned to glare at her.

After they walked to the other side of the clearing, Catherine sat down on the dirt beside the Sandman and he sat quietly beside her. Catherine didn't know anything about the guardians, Bunny hadn't really spoken about them. Catherine already hated Jack.

Catherine barely looked up when Bunny started yelling, instead she kept her eyes planted firmly on the ground.

Something felt…off.

"Not much of a talker are you?" She murmured gently and Sandman shook his head gently, and Catherine went back to staring at the ground.

She still felt…off.

Yet the feeling was frighteningly familiar, and it made her stomach twist and turn painfully.

"Gorgyra."

Bunny's ear twitched, and his head swivelled around to her and his eyes widened.

"Catherine, move!" He bellowed and leapt straight over Jack and towards them both, and Sandman turned to meet the attack head on.

"No." Catherine hissed, and a wall of darkness erupted behind her.

"No. More. Monsters."

**Oh, have another cliffy on me. I do so love them. I'm going to try to update at least once a week guys, but I have exams now, like, all of them, so I'll be spending most of my time revising for them. Sorry.**

**Oh, and seeing as we're almost at one hundred, my one hundredth reviewer will get a oneshot of anything they like! (Provided, you know, I can write it)**

**Dragoscilvio, I'm glad you liked the fight, I really enjoy writing them ****J**

**Chocolate1999, Your top three? Really? Awwww! Yay! I'm glad you like her!**

**Lady Minuialwen, Cliffies are evil, which is why I love them so much, mwahaha*cough**wheeze* haa…ha…**

**Avatar Aang, Well then, have some more!**

**Desiree Phantom, I hate it when autocorrect decides to run away, but the guardians, have attacked a child! Boom, plot twist.**

**Mikaela. Trembley, Hm, yes. They probably would have. Also, the reason they attacked her **_**will **_**be explained, promise.**

**SaphiraEragon, AH! RABID FANGIRL! (OR BOY) IT'S GOT ME! (I'm presuming it's me you're hugging, I may be wrong) Is there a crowbar nearby? Glad you like the story!**

**Blackshadow, Of course I use cliff-hangers to keep the reader interested, they're the best way to do so! They add suspense!**

**Eruruu4, Aren't they just? But they have a reason, it will be explained later.**

**MikiMouze16, Aw, I'm glad you think so, but I enjoy cliffies, makes all my readers **_**squirm.**_

**RapunzelInTheSnow, doesn't she just?**

**Invader Xen, Sure thing!**

**Read and Review guys!**

**Tulip Out.**


	12. Chapter 12

Bunny heard Catherine, heard her mumble Gorgyra's name, as if she could _sense _her. When he turned she was there, looming over Catherine with such a gleeful face, so keen to inflict pain on Catherine.

Sandy turned, already bringing his hands up along with a wall of sand.

"No."

There is was, it flickered in Catherine's eyes just like it had before, in that moment right before she struck Gorgyra. Magic. Dark, evil magic.

"No. More. Monsters."

The golden sand Sandy was bringing up in defence burst into darkness, not in the way that Pitches nightmares did, not in the way Gorgyra's shadows moved. It was like ink, spilling out from Catherine and latching onto Gorgyra's outstretched arms.

Sandy moved away, all the guardians did but not Bunny. Catherine didn't scare Bunny, even with that darkness she didn't scare him.

"Catherine, that's enough." He called over, walking towards her as he did so.

Her eyes snapped up to him, now a dark shade of cobalt and he stared back.

"Ya know tha's enough." Bunny continued and he knelt in front of her, ignoring Gorgyra's twisted cries from behind Catherine.

"No. More. Monsters." Catherine hissed, but it sounded like her voice ten times over.

Her voice, talking over voice, talking over her voice, talking over her voice.

"Don't ya rememba? I said, I'd protect ya din't I?" He chuckled and she nodded, albeit slowly, and he watched the cobalt in her eyes lighten, gleam in the light until it returned to sky blue.

The inky blackness behind her poured back into her and Gorgyra fell writhing to the ground.

"Ya okay?" Bunny asked gently, reaching forwards and resting a large furred paw on her knee and she nodded.

"C'mon, let's get you back home ey?" Bunny asked her gently, taking her hand and helping her stand on shaky legs.

"I'm going ta take Catherine home, Sandy, can you come watch over her?" Bunny asked and Sandy nodded with a smile, and Bunny paused to address the other guardians.

"I'll be back soon, stay here."

Bunny didn't acknowledge the writhing form of Gorgyra as she sunk into the Earth, he knew she'd be back, but he was at least hopeful that he wouldn't go after Catherine again. Heck, he didn't think anything would come after Catherine after that, but you really never knew. Power like that, was tempting.

Catherine was vaguely aware of arriving home, of being laid in the double bed in the spare room. It was funny, how she know thought of it as _Bunny's_ room. She knew that Bunny was going, heard him mutter something in her ear, she also knew he was angry. His already thick accent laced his words even further, and then he was replaced by something different. It sounded like bells chiming, and Catherine recognised the golden sand of the sandman.

She welcomed sleep, her body ached, it felt like it was tearing itself apart and sewing itself back together. She'd felt this before, in what she thought was a dream. A nightmare.

But now, the memory resurfaced, of herself as a child.

Of a time when the monsters had come, lead by a woman made of shadows. This woman had told her something, but Catherine couldn't hear the words. She just recalled the feeling of fear, these words frightened her, and she wanted the woman made of darkness to leave her, take the words away.

Then it was gone, and the Sandman's golden dream sand washed away the darkness. Catherine had never been happier to escape a nightmare before in her life.

Bunny left Catherine, promising her that he would come back soon and nodded to Sandman. If anyone could protect her, it was him. He then shot back to the forest clearing in a matter of seconds, feeling only the slightest tug from his previous injury.

The guardians were stood there, Jack was watching as North wrapped up that thin slice on Tooth's arm. The one that Catherine had dealt with North's own swords, which were safely back in their scabbards.

"Bunny." North began, but cut himself short, they were in the wrong here, and North knew it.

"You attacked her! An innocent kid!" Bunny bellowed at them, and they remained silent.

"What were ya thinkin?!"

"We are sorry Bunny," North apologised but it didn't satiate Bunny in the slightest, so North continued "it was not our intention to attack a child, but…we did not see a child."

Bunny paused, frowning. That…made more sense than it should have.

"Have you seen her fight?" Tooth asked gently, rubbing the bandages on her arm and keeping one of her feet tucked in closely, and Bunny knew Catherine had caught that as well.

"I saw her save me from Gorgyra." Bunny admitted slowly, and Jack nodded.

"What did you see, in her center?" North asked gently, and Bunny turned his head.

He knew what they meant, that darkness in her eyes when she fought. Dark magic. But Bunny knew it wasn't evil, because Catherine wasn't evil. Hell, Catherine was willing to bet that Catherine hadn't even known what she could do until just then.

"Magic." Bunny answered after several silent moments, but Jack just scoffed.

"Magic? That wasn't magic Bunny! That was pure darkness! Even Pitch wasn't-"

"Jack. Be. Quiet."

Jack had never really been afraid of Bunny before, but in that moment, he was very afraid of him. He hid it, of course, under his bravado but the feeling lingered.

"She isn't evil, ya hear me?" Bunny told them, voice low and dangerous, and both North and Tooth knew this tone, knew this was not the Bunny you should aggravate.

"Bunny, you can understand why we did it though, can't you?" Tooth asked lightly, and Bunny nodded stiffly.

"I understand it, but that doesn't mean I like it."

With that, Bunny turned on his heel and started back to Catherine's. He'd promised her he'd return, that he'd protect her and he sure as hell was going to keep her promise.

He stepped over the burnt patch of ground where Gorgyra had been, not even glancing back as he left.

**REVIEWER NUMBER ONE HUNDRED GETS A SPECIAL ONSHOT ALL TO THEMSELVES.**

**That is all.**

**Tulip Out.**

**Mwahahaha…**


	13. Chapter 13

Catherine felt…refreshed, and really, very sore. However, she recognised the large arms around her, mainly because she only knew one rabbit, and because of this she felt safe. It was nice to feel protected, but something was niggling at the back of Catherine's drowsy mind.

She groaned.

"Catherine?" Bunny asked gently, moving one arm to brush her hair out of her face tenderly.

"Please tell me I didn't kill Gorgyra." She murmured and Bunny sighed, continuing the stroking motion with his hand as he shifted so that Catherine could tuck into him.

"I don't know if ya killed her, but ya sure frightened 'er off." Bunny told her and she nodded.

"We both know she'll be back." Catherine muttered grouchily and Bunny chuckled.

"How're ya feeling?"

She shrugged her shoulders lazily.

"Been better, been worse."

"Any idea what ya did?" Bunny asked hesitantly and Catherine pulled away from him so that she could sit up, and Bunny did the same.

She noticed the frost on the window, and the sand beside it. She wondered if the guardians were watching her even know, because there was no way Bunny would stay here with her if he thought Gorgyra was coming back. He'd have been up all night keeping watch.

"If I had known I had magic powers of darkness then I would have zapped that albino sprite ages ago." She grunted and Bunny laughed, and Catherine twirled his fur in her fingers gently.

"Did I scare the guardians off as well?"

Bunny growled darkly in the back of his throat, a guttural sound that actually made Catherine feel better about her run-in with the guardians.

"They're keeping watch, but they aren't out a tha woods yet." Bunny responded gently, trying (and failing) to hide his anger and it made Catherine snigger.

"What am I?" Catherine asked him boldly, not really caring for caution.

At what point had she been cautious? Ever since the beginning Catherine hadn't been cautious, if she had been then Bunny would be dead. To hell with caution.

Bunny didn't miss a beat.

"Ya different."

Catherine rolled her eyes.

"No. No darting around the subject. Bunny, what am I? No bullshit."

If Bunny didn't appreciate her choice in words he didn't say anything about it, merely stared resolutely out of the window.

"We have…theories."

Catherine grinned "Excellent, hit me."

"Ya could be a half sprite, mortal parent, non mortal parent kinda thing." Bunny told her and she shook her head.

"Nope. Both folks are normal, and my brothers and sisters have never displayed any abnormalities either."

"Might a been blessed."

"Blessed?" Catherine asked "What the hell does that mean?"

"Bit like a guardian angel, cept instead of keeping what over ya, they become _part_ of ya."

Catherine squirmed where she was, thinking about the implications of being fused with an immortal creature.

"Anything else?"

Bunny shifted, and nodded once, curtly.

"Ya could a been prepared." He muttered, his hold body tensed as though the thought physically pained him.

Maybe it did.

"Prepared? Prepared for what?"

Bunny sagged, reaching a hand up and dragging his it over his head, tugging his ears flat and then letting them bounce back into place. Catherine watched them, hiding a smirk as they bobbed forwards and back before they fell still.

"It's not allowed. Back when it was just me North an Sandy, we outlawed it." Bunny told her and Catherine's gut wrenched uncomfortably.

"So…what is it?" She asked gently, almost afraid of the answer.

Okay, that's a lie, she was very afraid of the answer.

"There are thousands upon thousand a spirits out there, and there has ta be order in everything. So, as well as choosing guardian the man in the moon used to-"

"Wait, man in the moon?"

"I'll explain later."

Catherine nodded.

"So, the man in the moon used to pick out certain spirits to rule over certain things. Mother nature rules spring, Old man winter rules over…well, winter." Bunny explained to her and Catherine nodded.

"Well, sometimes they didn't want manny to pick their successors, so they went out and 'prepared' one."

This was just getting better and better with every freaking word.

"What…what does that mean Bunny? How do you…prepare…someone?" She asked and he sighed.

"You have ta change 'em, which explains why you in particular were hunted." Bunny told her and Catherine curled in on herself, wrapping her arms around her torso like a shield.

"Change them how?"

"We don't know, only the spirits who perform the preparations know."

Catherine didn't know whether she should be relieved that she didn't know, or anxious that she may never find out.

"So, I'm a successor? To what?" Catherine asked and again Bunny shrugged his shoulders.

"We wont know until ya…well, succeed." Bunny told her and she smirked.

"It'd be ironic if it was Gorgyra."

Bunny started laughing, and before long Catherine was laughing with him. It would be ironic, but Bunny knew it was unlikely. Why would Gorgyra make Catherine her successor and then try to kill her?

Gorgyra might have been evil, but she wasn't stupid.

"Uh, Bunny?"

Catherine looked over at the (now) open window, where Jack and Tooth hovered cautiously.

"Can uh…can I have a word?" Jack asked sheepishly and Bunny hid a lopsided smile, nodded and then pulled away from Catherine.

"I'll stay here with Catherine." Tooth volunteered as the two male spirits left through the window.

Tooth turned to Catherine with purpose.

"We need to talk."

**This took a while because I have revision so the next chapter will take forever as well, sorry guys.**

**Lady Minuialwen, glad you like it!**

**MEC, I'm glad you do!**

**Dragoscilvio, aren't they just?**

**Desiree Phantom, I'm glad the question was answered for you! I do hate plot holes!**

**Headphonesinn481, I wasn't planning on really giving her anything, but it just dawned on me that her having dark magic would tie up a few things.**

**Nikki, intense is good right? And of course Bunny is badass! Why the hell wouldn't he be?**

**RedPenWriter13, You have no idea how happy it makes me every time somebody tells me they like Catherine!**

**MikiMouze16, The magic will be explained, I promise! And I always plan it out slow and it just speeds up when it hit's the paper, sorry!**

**Kida, continued!**

**Aireagle92, Yes, Catherine does have dark magic hehe…**

**Blackshadow, Ah damn, sorry you aren't one hundred! Maybe if this keeps going then you can be two hundred? (Or one fifty, depending on my mood one fifty may get a oneshot)**

**Read and Review guys!**

**Tulip Out.**


	14. Chapter 14

_Oh shit._

Catherine had learnt that the expression 'we need to talk' was never followed up by anything that was actually good. Usually one person, or both, left rather angry/sad/depressed and Catherine really wasn't in the mood.

"Alright then feathers, lay it one me." Catherine grunted moving over to the center of the bed, expecting Tooth to sit but she just continued to hover in the middle of the room.

"Bunny probably hasn't realised it yet, you never do when it's you, but I have." Tooth told Catherine and Catherine nodded slowly.

"Less riddles, more sense please."

Catherine wasn't trying to hide her loathing of Tooth, the damn peacock had slashed both of her arms and Catherine hadn't forgotten. The scabs on her arms and the on her ankle were something of a reminder.

"Your human. You understand that right?" Tooth asked gently and Catherine gasped.

"I thought I was a fairy! Gosh darn it!" She cried and Tooth rolled her eyes, and Catherine laughed.

"What has me being human got to do with anything?" She asked airily and Tooth sighed in frustration.

"Bunny _isn't _a human. He's immortal." She continued and Catherine shrugged her shoulders.

"Your point puffball?"

"He _marked _you." Tooth told her exasperated and Catherine stared at her.

"I'd like to reiterate the point that I am in fact human and therefore have no idea what that means."

"It means, that he's practically bound to you." Tooth told her gently, but Catherine wasn't phased.

"I repeat, your point puffball?"

Tooth stared at her, before ruffling her feathers and shooting into Catherine's personal space.

"Listen. You will die. He will not. You will never see him break the day you die, never see him slowly destroy himself but the rest of us will. Don't be selfish." Tooth scorned her and Catherine blinked slowly.

Then reached out and bitch-slapped Toothiana so hard that the sound echoed.

"Shut your multicoloured face." Catherine snapped pushing herself from the bed and moving so that it was now Tooth's space being invaded and not her own. Tooth had said nothing, hadn't even moved.

"You listen to me, I know you don't want Bunny to get hurt. I get it, but what do you think will hurt him more, having thousands of memories of me, or hearing me tell him to piss off?" She demanded furiously.

Tooth said nothing, so Catherine continued.

"I understand that I _will _die, and there is almost a one hundred percent chance that I wont be coming back, but you know what?" Catherine laughed "I don't care! I am going to spend the rest of my life with a giant anthropomorphic rabbit, and I am going to make sure that he spends every moment with a stupid little smile and his stupid little face. And there is nothing, and I mean nothing, you or any of the guardians can do to change that."

Catherine marched across the room and flung open the wardrobe door, reaching inside and rooting around for a few moments before she found what she wanted.

"You two ladies okay?" Bunny asked when he came in, noting the frozen and astonished form of the Tooth fairy.

Jack waved his hand in her face a few times, turned to Bunny and shrugged.

"Bunny. Here. Now." Catherine ordered, and slowly Bunny moved so that he was stood in front of her.

"Bend over."

Bunny moved slowly, and then Catherine reached up and slipped a wooden wrist band over his ear. It slid down and rested at the base of his ear on his head, and he frowned up at it.

"What is it?" He murmured, peering into the mirror.

It took him a moment to decipher the words on it, and when he did he stared at it with a grin.

Catherine turned to Tooth.

"Now you have nothing to bitch about." She announced before she clambered out of the window and down the drainpipe.

"Your girlfriend is weird." Jack muttered and Tooth finally moved to look at the wooden band around Bunny's ear.

The writing was neat and very clear, written in thick black marker.

_**Property of Catherine Rye.**_

**Rah! Okay, this may be it for a little while cause I only have two more pre-written chapters okay? I have three exams on the first three days I get back one after another and then four more. OH MY PROM DRESS ARRIVED! AAAAAH! Okay, moment over.**

**Desiree Phantom, Ah, well, Catherine is human. Not spirit, so they kind of are different species, not to mention he's…well he's a rabbit.**

**Shahrezad1, Aw! I'm glad you like it! As for Aster's characterisation, it's definitely one of the hardest parts of the story, but then it's always difficult writing someone else's character correctly, but I'm glad you like it and all the best with your story!**

**Aireagle92, Have an update!**

**Nikki, Prepared is more ominous than you could imagine, *insert evil laughter***

**Guest, ****J**

**MikiMouze16, I can't! EXAAAAAMSSS! STUDDYIIIIIINNNNGGGGG! I'm updating as much as I possibly can!**

**Fk306, Glad you like it!**

**Blackshadow, Aw, I suck at bowling! Still it's good fun at least! I love a good cliffy, they're just so much fun to work with! And I'm glad you like my writing so much, makes me very happy when someone decides they like my writing.**

**Read and Review guys!**

**Tulip Out.**


	15. Chapter 15

Catherine wasn't sure, how it'd come to this. Everything felt cold, numb and empty. She was sure she'd been at home, but she clearly wasn't now.

It was that blasted woman's fault, Catherine could still feel her manipulating Catherine's thoughts. It ached, it ached inside her head and made her chest throb painfully. Tooth, Jack and Sandy were all there, laying so still on the floor.

Had she killed them? No, Catherine had been able to stop that much damage being done at least. Was Catherine going to die?

Yes, undoubtedly, Catherine was a dead girl walking.

_**Three days ago.**_

Catherine felt sick. Her whole body felt like it was contracting and expanding, pulling itself apart internally. Bunny had his arms wrapped tightly around her, and it was comforting but did nothing to ease the pain.

Tooth was fluttering around nervously, as Catherine had sort…snapped out of it? That was probably the right thing, because although Catherine could see the bruise on Tooth's face, she couldn't actually remember hitting the hyperactive fairy.

Catherine didn't believe in attacking someone when a disagreement could be talked out, it was purely for self defence if attacked or if someone was being attacked. Sure, Catherine had had anger problems as a child, but she had since learnt to deal with that.

So why all of a sudden? Sandy had been there a lot too, making sure Bunny had a stash of dream sand with him whenever Catherine slept, because every time she did she…did things.

The scorch mark on the door was proof enough that Catherine was changing, but nobody was willing to tell her why. Although, she was beginning to piece it together, bit by bit.

From what Catherine had gathered, she was being prepared. Spirits prepared humans for their role when they saw desired attributes in this person that they don't believe Manny (the man in the moon exists, who'd have thought?) will pick. They then partially posses the living being, giving them a small amount of their power and then let them live their lives.

Up to a point.

However, it was up to a spirit when this prepared 'vessel' as Tooth had dubbed it, died. So, basically, whoever it was that had decided Catherine was going to be their heir, so to speak, also had decided when she was going to die and become the new spirit of whatever-it-may-be.

They'd also pretty much decided that the spirit was evil, and so had narrowed the list down somewhat. To about five hundred spirits. Which still meant they had quite a lot of work to do.

"Ya alright in there?" Bunny asked softly, nuzzling his nose into the top of Catherine's head.

Catherine grunted, hiding further into is fur and away from the light. Yeah, the light was starting to hurt Catherine almost as much as getting punched in the face. And Catherine had been punched pretty hard in the face before.

That had been an interesting martial arts competition, and a painful one too.

"We'll fix this, don't ya worry."

Catherine wasn't sure anymore who Bunny was reassuring, himself or her. Although Catherine didn't understand the fuss really, if she died this way, then she was guaranteed to become an immortal spirit, same as Bunny. In reality, this worked well for Bunny.

_Ignorant fool…wait…what?_

Catherine groaned and Bunny pulled away so he could see her, but she didn't look up at him.

_Great, now it's in my head. Fan-bloody-tastic._

Bunny just gave her a squeeze and made circles on her back with one of his oversized paws. It was calming, and cleared Catherine's thoughts enough so she could hear the conversation.

"There are still too many spirits to check." The thick Russian accent that belonged to North announced as quietly as his booming would.

"There isn't, and we'll keep searching." Bunny grunted gently, trying not to jar Catherine too much.

_Do they think I'm deaf? Well, Bunny's fur is pretty thick, maybe they think it's in my ears?_

"We're trying, I even called in a few friends to help." Catherine could hear the grin in Jack's voice, and the confusion in Tooth's.

"What friends?"

"Nobody in particular." Jack replied casually, dodging the subject with a clearly practised ease.

"Any help is good help yah?" North asked and Bunny must have nodded or something because he made no noise.

There was a few moments of silence.

"Sandy's right, I'm going to head out and keep searching. There's still a chance we can fix this." Jack agreed with whatever the golden spirit had said and Catherine felt the temperature rise as he shot out of the permanently open window.

As far as Catherine's mother was concerned Catherine was ill, but because of some freaky fairy mojo of Tooth's her mother didn't feel compelled to check in on her or call a doctor as she normally would.

When Tooth had done it Catherine had remarked "When I get all my mojo you've got to teach me to do that." and Tooth had sent her a warning look.

Clearly, none of them thought she was going to change. Catherine didn't have the heart to tell them they were wrong, that she was already changing. Everyday her heart slowed, slower and slower, and she wondered how long until it stopped.

**So, only one more prewritten chapter and I've got to just…do it…darn, exams are killing me guys. History today, English tomorrow, and Science on Wednesday. Shazam. Then about three more and I AM DOOOOOOONNNNEEEEE. Finals are a killer.**

**Aaaaaach, no reviews today because I need to revise, but I hope you guys enjoy this!**

**Read and Review guys!**

**Tulip Out.**


	16. Chapter 16

Catherine could feel him coming now, in fact, she'd been able to feel him for a while now. She figured it was part of the process. North was with him, but he was just a vague feeling whilst he wasn't.

Her sense of him, of Bunny, was strong. She only knew North was there because Bunny was with him. Jack groaned on the floor, rolling towards Tooth weakly. Without wanting it to, the darkness Catherine had once controlled leapt into action and wrapped itself around Jack.

Catherine hadn't thought Jack would still be able to scream after all the damage he had taken, but apparently he could. The sound was torn out of his throat as the darkness burned into his flesh and seeped into his soul.

_It'll all be over soon, _Catherine told herself, as Bunny came nearer still.

_**Two days ago.**_

The world outside wasn't in focus anymore, and Catherine's world was being cut down in size. All she had was her room and the guardians, they came and saw her everyday and Bunny had stopped leaving.

Jack was there almost as often, to keep her raging fever down. Apparently she had lost control of her mouth, because she had started spewing absolute rubbish every several minutes. Stupid ridiculous things, and the only one who _really_ listened was Jack, everyone else discarded them as feverish ramblings.

Which they were, but at the same time they weren't.

"I hate darkness, it lurks around leaps out and squishes you. Squish squish squish," Catherine made squishing motions weakly with her arms "and then you can't squish it back."

"Why would you want to squish it?" Jack asked and she sort of glared at him, but with her harsh breath and yellow pallor it wasn't very intimidating.

"Cause it'll squish me if I don't. Dumby."

Catherine knew she sounded like a child but Jack was a child so really it didn't matter. Well, he was an immortal child, he was immortally younger than Catherine and she loved to hold that over him.

"Why would it squish you? I thought it liked you." Jack pointed out, and Bunny glowered at him.

"No. It likes aaaattributes." Catherine informed him casually but her words were slurred and her eyes lidded.

"Don't encourage her Jack." Bunny grunted, pulling Catherine up from where she had slowly slid down from a sitting position.

"She just gets irritated if you don't." Jack told him but Bunny didn't reply.

Tooth fluttered in anxiously, and muttered something to Jack and then to Bunny but Catherine didn't catch any of it.

It was weird, she herself felt strangely sane and yet the rest of her clearly wasn't acting sane. However Catherine could feel it seeping in, like someone else was manipulating her and she knew it, but she was helpless to stop it.

Catherine could see her now, the one who had 'prepared' her. Well, Catherine couldn't _see _her exactly, it was more that she _felt _her. There was a blurred shape standing in the corner of the room but nobody had seen it yet. Catherine doubted it was actually there most of the time.

But it spoke, slow lulling words that sounded like a twisted lullaby. There were no definite words, just an endless tune that rattled around inside Catherine's brain and slowly drove her into insanity.

Bunny hissed, and Tooth fluttered over to him, Jack stared in shock.

Catherine could just see his fur burning, everywhere it touched her it was being burned by an invisible flame.

"Bunny…" Jack murmured and Tooth pulled him gently.

"You need to let go, it's going to do some serious damage if you don't." Tooth begged, pulling at his thick arms.

Catherine was surprised when Bunny let go, and pulled gently away from Catherine but she did nothing to stop him, just let her body fall limply onto the bed as he moved away.

It was frightening how much she missed him, even though he was now sat on the floor beside the bed with a paw brushing her hair from her face.

_Except your empty now aren't you? Have you figured it out yet?_

Catherine glowered at the shape in the corner, because she knew it had spoken.

"Shurrup." She slurred and Tooth frowned, following her line of sight.

_You're a very annoying individual, give it up. Give it to me and all the pain will end._

Catherine's hand fumbled on the desk beside the bed, and her hand ran over Bunny's head as she grabbed a picture frame.

"I said SHUT UP."

The frame shattered in the corner and the three present guardians stared at her, watched her in total silence for a moment before Jack moved to pick up the flimsy picture that had been in the frame.

"You shouldn't throw precious things." He muttered handing her the picture, she stared down at it woefully.

She was only seven in the picture, and her first sibling, her brother Jackie, had just been born. Her mother was behind her, Jackie in her arms and her father behind them.

It was a precious photograph, and Catherine had forgotten it was in the frame.

_Give it to me._

Catherine smiled and snuggled into her bed.

"I don't have it."

The shadow moved, but Catherine let the guardians try and figure it out. Catherine was done, done with the shadow and done with the fear.

This was her life, her end and her beginning, she'd be damned she didn't go out with a bang.

**Woo! No more pre-written chapters guys! Anything else that happens will be completely off the top of my head.**

**ALSO! Only three more exams! Woohoo! Two maths, one history and then the only school related thing I must do is PROOOOMMM!**

**MikiMouze16, Lucky you! Are you having a prom wherever you are?**

**Lady Minuialwen, Glad you like it!Guest, finals are the physical incarnation of hell. Damn them.**

**Nikki, Ah, Catherine's mysterious powers…hehe…**

**Blackshadow, well, Tooth is unconscious…not so sure about Jack…I hope my exams go well too! *Nervous laughter***

**InkedCupcake92, Glad you like it!**

**Read and Review guys!**

**Tulip Out.**


	17. Chapter 17

Tooth groaned. Jack still hadn't moved, not since the last time when the darkness had leapt at him without Catherine wanting it to.

"Catherine."

Her head moved upwards, and she knew Bunny was there, watching her with a controlled air of calm. Was he angry? Scared? Catherine didn't know, that wasn't part of the whole power thing.

Darkness, that was her thing.

Bunny peered at her, her eyes were black. There was no light left in them, and the once pale bags under her eyes had grown into black smoke around her eyes.

"Bunnymund."

He winced, that didn't sound right. It sounded like the sound was being torn involuntarily from Catherine's throat. Maybe it was.

"Give it to me." The painful voice demanded and Bunny frowned.

Give it to her? Give what to her?

"I. Said. GIVE IT TO ME!" She screeched and her body moved as darkness, leaping towards Bunny with murderous intent.

_Around 24 hours ago._

The world was dark, Catherine could barely keep her eyes open any more and when they were open the world was just a mass of blurred colour. Her voice had abandoned her, and her breath came out in raspy gasps.

Catherine was dying. Slowly, agonisingly, and her family wouldn't know until it was too late.

Bunny was the only one that seemed to believe she would make a miraculous recovery, Sandy had decided to make it his duty to make sure Catherine was kept as comfortable as possible.

Catherine was aware of warmth on her head, Bunny was rubbing her hair again, muttering comforting words into her ears.

She choked out a laugh. She knew they'd misinterpret it as just plain choking but it was laughter.

_Bunny, you've got to give it up! I'm not going to survive._

Catherine didn't mind when her head was lifted and ice cold water trickled down her throat. It was relieving, if only a temporary solution to a permanent problem. She hoped when she came back, as whatever it may be, she'd no longer be thirsty.

Or at least able to drink something.

_I should be more concerned about death, but at this point I welcome it._

North was back, Catherine could tell by the lump of red that was ambling through the room. Tooth was the hardest to make out, vibrantly coloured she may have been but Catherine's eyes simply couldn't keep up with her movement.

_Give it to me._

Catherine would've rolled her eyes had she been able. This creature, the one that had prepared her, had been making the same demand for two days now, and although it had been amusing at first it was getting annoying.

_I keep telling you I don't have it! Stupid head._

Catherine attempted a frown. _Wow did I really just say stupid head? I sound like a three year old._

Catherine felt strange, she wasn't sure what it was but her body felt peculiar. Catherine realised that Bunny was yelling at her.

"-eathe! Catherine breathe!"

Catherine realised in that instant that she _had _stopped breathing. She sucked in a lungful of air and continued to gasp, how could she forget to breath? What the HELL?

_Almost time. Give it to me and it'll hurt less._

Catherine made a loud frustrated noise as Bunny pulled her upright to help her breathe.

"BITE ME!" She yelled, not realising she had yelled it outwardly as well as inwardly, and in response she heard Jack guffaw.

"At least she's fighting back." Jack defended but the rumbling from Bunny's chest told her that he wasn't impressed.

_Last chance. Give. It. To. Me…NOW._

Catherine laughed, and this time it actually sounded like laughter. She looked up, forcing her eyes open as she glared at the darkness in the corner that she alone could see.

"I. Don't. Have. It."

Catherine didn't know what she expected, but it wasn't the sudden relief she was granted. It was so sudden and just…_nice,_ that she spoke.

"Holy Mary mother Teresa." She gasped and Jack started laughing again.

"Catherine?"

Catherine peered backwards at Bunny and grinned.

"Hello fluffy, miss me?"

_Not for long little one._

Catherine frowned as Bunny stared at her in astonishment.

"Oh bugger."

That's when she exploded.

**HAVE A CHAPTER. DON'T HATE ME. PLEASE REVIEW. MY EXAMS ARE ALMOST OVER, SO IS THIS STORY. I LOVE YOU ALL.**

**READ IT. REVIEW IT.**

**TULIP OUT.**


	18. Chapter 18

Bunny fought with the darkness, twisting and thrashing within the ink like blackness as it clung to his fur and singed him. It hurt, but he couldn't escape the darkness.

It spat him out, and he rolled along the floor before slamming into a wall. He hacked out a glob of blood and pushed himself up onto his elbow, peering up at Catherine angrily.

He was angry, furious, but not at her. At whatever it was, whoever it was, was destroying her internally.

No, that was a lie, he was angry at her. Angry that she'd given up, thrown away her hope. As the guardian of hope, he knew when someone had lost it, and she had. Perhaps if she'd kept her hope, she'd still be able to fight the change within her.

So yes, he was angry at her.

"_You have it."_

Thousands of voices, distorted and warped, speaking one on top of the other. Each voice slithered towards Bunny and into his head, twisting inside his mind with agonising persistence.

"I don't know what you want," He grunted, pushing himself up onto his knees "but if I do have it, I wont give it to you."

Catherine's face continued to warp, the skin splitting along her mouth to reveal an extra set of razor like teeth atop her human teeth. She hissed at him angrily, taking a heavy step forwards.

"_I will take it from it. I will rip it out of your chest."_

Bunny frowned, pushing himself up onto his feet and trying not to watch North behind her, carrying a limp Jack and Tooth away as quickly as he could. He hoped he would be quick and return for Sandy soon.

"_She gave it to you. Gave it away. I _need _it."_ The voices continued, Catherine's eyes had gone blank, empty white holes in her head, the blue that Bunny adored was gone.

Catherine was disappearing, falling into the darkness where she may never return, and if she did, it wouldn't be her anymore.

"What? What did she give me?" Bunny demanded, sounding stronger and more confident than he felt, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to fight her at all.

He could feel it, the mark on her, and the wooden wrist band around his ear felt cold.

"_Her heart."_

_Approx ten hours ago._

Jack twisted, avoiding a tendril of liquid darkness as he span midair. Tooth shot through the blackness, a blurred green shape flying around faster than Jack had seen her fly before.

North had both swords in hand, but was reluctant to do much more than cut off the tendrils should they come too close. It was Catherine in there, somewhere.

Bunny wasn't in view, but Jack knew he was closest to her. Jack could just about see her, body pulling itself back together, black stitches running along the injuries and healing her.

It wasn't possible, he knew humans certainly couldn't pull themselves back together, and he'd never heard of a spirit doing it. No, that wasn't true, Sandy had, but he'd had help.

The belief of all the children had brought him back, but what was bringing Catherine back? What was pulling her mortal corpse back together, because Jack knew she was dead.

She'd been dead the moment she'd found Bunny, the domino fell and her life fell with it. It wasn't Bunny's fault, and Jack didn't like blaming fate. He was a nice guy after all, but fate had definitely been meddling.

"_Say ta-ta."_

Jack span, she was behind him, how was she behind him? He'd just been staring right at her.

Several tendrils wrapped around him, and then his eyes were swarmed with the darkness too. The darkness twisted and Jack was flung, crashing into a wall before skidding to a halt.

He spluttered, red dripping between his teeth as he pulled himself up, registering a change in scenery as he stood.

"I think I preferred you when you were feverish." He told her as she threw out two others.

Tooth managed to flutter to a stop before she hit the wall, and Sandy created a golden parachute to halt his flight. They both turned to Catherine.

"_Where is it?"_

Jack sparred a glance at Tooth and Sandy, both looked just as confused as he felt. They remained silent and the darkness crept forwards, pulling Catherine upwards as though she was a puppet on strings.

"_Where has she hidden it?"_

This time, Tooth's timid voice was firm and strong.

"I know who you are now," She told Catherine, "I figured it out."

"_I care not, my only concern is the location, I cannot complete the change without it. Not successfully."_

Tooth held her ground, so Jack and Sandy followed suite as the darkness continued to inch forwards.

"Will it kill her? If you don't have it?" Jack asked, finding his voice at last as he held his crook tighter than he ever had before.

"_It will kill me, and I can't have that now can I?"_ Catherine asked and Tooth growled deep in her throat.

"We should have seen it sooner, but you're a recluse so we left you alone, never knew who you really were until now."

Jack pointed his crook at Catherine as she moved towards Tooth, her body jerking as the tendrils pulled her limbs in angry gestures.

"_Aren't we clever Toothiana? You florescent, flying, festering fool. Now, give it to me." _Catherine snarled, but the movement of her mouth didn't match the words Jack could hear.

"You have broken one of our most important laws as spirits, a crime that would normally be punished by banishment to the empty world," Tooth declared firmly, and Sandy rose up beside her angrily "but if we can keep whatever it is you want, bring Catherine into the world as your replacement instead of just a host, then your name will live on."

"_My name? I ought never die, that is what immortal means, I will not be replaced." _Catherine continued and Tooth shook her head.

"You would not be replaced if it was not right, those are the rules."

"_Always did have a problem with authority." _Catherine grinned and Jack smirked.

"I knew Catherine was in there somewhere."

Catherine's eyes turned to him, and as if realising what she had just spoken she snarled furiously, the grin dropping.

"_You will be the first to die."_

**Well, it seems as though you've all vanished but hey! As long as some of you are still reading I'll keep writing! EXAMS ARE OVER! PROM IS IN SIX DAYS! WOOOO!**

**Blackshadow, She isn't quite gone yet! Well, I don't know…maybe she is, maybe she isn't. Haven't decided yet ;)**

**Lady Minuialwen, Glad you like it.**

**Nikki, Not figuratively. Literally. Kaboom. Body parts everywhere, see above to find out what she did.**

**Read and Review guys!**

**Tulip Out.**


	19. Chapter 19

Aware. Catherine felt aware. The world had been black for so long, it was nice to see some light. A dim candle burning out, running out of oxygen and taking her into the darkness.

But the light didn't burn out. The light couldn't burn out because Catherine no longer had power over this light, neither did her tormentor. It was Bunny's now, that light, that little spark of hope.

_Alright, _Catherine mentally grunted to herself, _if this spirit wants a fight, then she's going to get one._

It took a moment, but Catherine focused on her body, on the way her fingers felt when they moved and the way her breathing hitched when she panicked. Those quirks that were hers, those feelings of her own body in her control.

_**Stop it.**_

Catherine smirked, or, she got the feeling she was smirking.

"_What are you grinning at!?"_

_Oh, Jack…he's alive?_

_**I said stop it.**_

The voice was quiet, strained, the spirit couldn't maintain concentration now that Catherine was interfering. Breaking free.

Catherine focused on her eyes, her eyes opening and closing like they had her entire life. It was hard, to focus on something she did naturally and without thought but she did so, partially.

_One eye? Is that all I can manage?_

Even so, it was a start. She could see Jack, looking angrier than Catherine thought he could look, shielding Tooth as Sandy pulled himself heavily to his feet. Bunny was stood in front of him, with North at his side and two bloodied swords in hand.

_That's probably my blood, but I haven't quite gotten to pain yet so no bother._

_**You're getting on my nerves you little brat. Just fade away, you've kept this body warm for me but now I'll take it. This is why you were born.**_

"Getting real tired of your bullshit spirit." Catherine spat straightening her legs and standing, her body shook from damage and the battle inside.

Bunny was speaking but Catherine hadn't accessed her ears yet and it didn't matter, because she really couldn't focus on that right now and keep hold of her body.

_**You exist to give me a new body, I cannot die, he promised me immortality, the man in the moon PROMISED ME IMMORTALITY.**_

"You broke the rules. I know your name, I know everything." Catherine continued with a grin, watching vaguely as North moved slowly towards her with his blades pointed at her.

_**They ready to slay you, is that what you want? You think you are powerful because you know my name? By dawn everyone shall know my name, everybody will fear the name 'Lady Spirit'.**_

"No. By dawn, you'll be gone, and I'll be the new 'Lady Spirit' so shut up, roll over, and die already."

North lurched forwards and Catherine twisted to the side, noting the fact that North hadn't had the point of the swords directed towards her but the hilts.

_**NO. NONONONONO!**_

Catherine's response wasn't verbal, other than a guttural snarl she made no sound. She could feel it under her skin now. The power. _Her power. _Catherine was the Lady Spirit, she knew her job and the job of her predecessor.

The Lady Spirit, had originally been Man in the Moons consort, to keep him company in his immortality. But the Lady Spirit had grown weary of immortality and tried to take her own life, but instead of fading completely another was chosen to take her place.

This was only because the Lady Spirit had other jobs, and many spirits in her power, and from then it only got worse.

The Lady Spirit Catherine was replacing, had taken to stealing the power of others and Catherine was not the first that she had taken. Catherine would be the first to stop her though, and Catherine got the feeling that she knew it too.

Catherine looked over at Bunny, and her smile softened along with her face.

"I'll see you soon, you overgrown fluff ball."

Catherine didn't know what Bunny saw, but to her it was just her spirit leaving her body. She drifted upwards, and then her body pulled itself apart but not like before. She felt like dust, flittering away.

Catherine let herself go, but she took the Lady Spirit with her.

Bunny watched Catherine die. It would be burned into his mind forever. She smiled at him, muttered something he couldn't hear and just…died.

Her body stiffened, and her eyes rolled back into her head. She made a strange gurgling sound and black blood poured out of her mouth in waves as her body fitted, before she fell forwards and didn't get back up.

The guardians daren't move, was Catherine gone? Would she come back? Would it still be her? Or just the Lady Spirit wearing her skin?

If it was, Bunny would have to watch Catherine die again, because he would slay the Lady Spirit himself. But something in Bunny wouldn't let him mourn, something kept him from breaking.

It was almost like Catherine wasn't dead, like he could still _feel _her, even though she felt so far away. He wanted to brush it off, but he was the guardian of hope, and he clung to that feeling like it would bring her back.

Maybe it would.

Bunny was the first to move, pushing forwards and lifting Catherine from the dirt. The clearing, and some of the forest, had been ruined.

There was silence, their fight had scared away any nearby animals and they could all hear the wailing of sirens coming towards them.

"You have to leave her."

Bunny turned towards Tooth, she was hovering beside him with a hand resting on his arm

"You have to leave her. They need to bury her." Tooth told him, and he peered down at Catherine's corpse.

Her face still had some colour, her skin was still warm. Her eyes were shut and her mouth hung open. The black blood was already drying, flaking off her skin.

He kneeled, and lay her back down gently.

Then, together, they turned, and they left.

**One more chapter guys! I had planned a sequel but I'm really terrible and somewhat ignoring my other stories (I promised sequels) so no promised!**

**Lady Minuialwen, Run run as fast as you can! I feel like I missed a few bits here, I've never been very good at time jumps sorry.**

**Blackshadow, Prom was fantastic! Everybody looked great and we all had a great time, thanks!**

**Bookgal7, I had meant to point out who the spirit was (It's the 'Lady Spirit' in case nobody realised) in the last chapter and then I didn't? I confused myself so it's in here along with a brief explanation. There will be more on her in the next chapter. (And the reason the summary is so different is because this wasn't how the story was meant to go originally)**

**Georgeisthewin, I thought that would be a nice fluffy twist to this otherwise dark piece.**

**TwixyReitz, Catherine is my middle name : ) and my favourite name aha. Glad you like the chapter!**

**Read and Review guys!**

**Tulip Out.**


	20. Chapter 20

Bunny had no idea that the Lady Spirit had been stealing the lives of young girls for so long, he loathed himself and the guardians for not being able to tell.

He was angry at himself for being so naïve as to believe that he alone could have saved Catherine, and now he had to endure the wait. Waiting to see if she would return or not.

Jack had gone to her funeral, to comfort Jamie and Sophie.

Bunny had gone afterwards with the rest of the guardians to lay some everlasting flowers by her grave.

The Lady Spirit, she'd been just as ordinary as Catherine had, once upon a time. She'd become the Man in the Moons lover, she stole his heart and he stole hers. She was going to die, at the age of just twenty three, but this was not uncommon all those thousands of years ago.

At first the Lady Spirit had adjusted well, but soon it dawned that her life would be unending. She wasn't the first spirit to take her life, nor would she be the last and everybody had known it. The only reason the position of Lady Spirit had remained, was because she had gathered a following.

Spirits that become powerful cannot simply vanish, even if the originals die whether it be from self injury or battle then they need a replacement to manage their power.

Bunny sat in his warren and one of his golems sat beside him, they both looked over at the mass grave.

Another dead loved one, but this time Bunny had hope. Catherine would come back, Bunny could feel it and he was more than willing to wait.

Pitch had known it was inevitable. The man in the moon would forgive him, but only at a price. This wasn't the first time and he was one hundred percent sure it would not be the last.

The price this time, it wasn't as bad as the last time that was for sure but even so…

"Are you a zombie?"

…it wasn't the best.

**I may write a sequel, I certainly know what I would write if I did, but I'm really unmotivated at the moment and I can't get out of my slump.**

**Chocolate1999, Don't die, that would be bad, and we've already had one death!**

**Lady Minuialwen, ;)**

**Nikki, I'm glad you think my writing is awesome! But honestly it could use some work, I know that much! You can make a judgement on the good/bad thing hehe…**

**Blackshadow, Aw, don't worry about being tired! I hope you got plenty of sleep! I have pretty bad insomnia so I don't get to sleep till about two am, so I hope you slept well at least!**

**Georgeisthewin, I'm pretty sure I could do with a beta but I'd feel bad bugging somebody aha, and my friend normally points out all my mistakes because we're both grammar Nazis, but we can't see mistakes in our own work.**

**Read and Review guys!**

**Tulip Out.**


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